In the Past
by Eeni
Summary: Everyone knows that Himura Kenshin was once known & feared as the legendary Hitokiri Battousai, but no one knows why he became a wanderer... An alternative past to Kenshin's life as the Hitokiri Battousai.
1. Ayame and Tsubame’s Disappearance

Well, to start off I have to say one thing: I came up with this story after I saw the whole series like 2 times and months before I ever found out about the 2nd half of the comic (which, sadly, wasn't animated as part of the series). About a month ago I finally got to see the OVAs. Well, to get to the point of what I'm trying to say is that prior to coming up with this fanfic I didn't know anything about Tomoe or Enishi or even anything about Kenshin's past, except for what they mentioned in the series (I still haven't read the comics, can't find them ;;). So with this said, all I can say is enjoy and pray that not too many people criticize this fic in a bad way. Enjoy.

- Eeni/ WhiteRabbit/ Bunneh

April 2003

**_Chapter 1:_**

_Ayame and Tusbame's Disappearance_

13th Year of Meiji (1880)

Tokyo, Japan

The afternoon was warm and Himura Kenshin was, as usual, washing the laundry of the Kamiya Kashin house hold. Kamiya Kaoru was out for the day teaching at other dojos across the city of Tokyo. The residents of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryû dojo were, like always, in desperate need of money. Myôjin Yahiko was in the dojo itself, cleaning its floors and dusting all the ledges in the room.

Kenshin looked up to the sky and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was finally spring again and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. The little pink petals carpeted the streets and yards of all the houses in the city of Tokyo. It was almost like pink snow that wouldn't stop falling from the sky. "Cherries," he whispered to himself as a slight wind blew across the yard. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, taking in the smell of air around him, listening to the wind that gently blew the tiny petals as his long red hair swayed gently at his back. He opened his eyes, watching the blossoms being carried in the wind. "Akiko-san..." he sighed softly.

"Kenshin!" Yahiko's voice came from across the yard interrupting his daydreaming, "Kaoru is gonna be back early today and said that if all the chores of the house were done by the time she came back, she was gannna take us out to eat. It's all on her!" he smiled. "Come on!" he explained, "I'm almost done with my chores! I wonna go out and eat!" The dark skinned boy wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve as he smiled at the red haired man.

Kenshin smiled back causing the large x-shaped scar on his left cheek to become rounded on his face. "Alright then", he said, "this one is almost done as well." The thirty year-old man quickly went back to his washing. As soon as he finished the laundry he decided to help Yahiko with the washing and polishing of the floors of the house. The warm afternoon was finally beginning to turn into evening, both Yahiko and Kenshin had cleaned the whole house, folded all the laundry, and even prepared a bath for Kaoru's return. However, Kaoru seemed to be running late, she hadn't returned to the dojo and Yahiko was growing impatient.

"She must still be teaching," Kenshin said as he finally sat down with the young boy at the front of the dojo, waiting in the front yard for Kaoru. "She works very hard for us."

"Ya, I guess so," Yahiko agreed as he ran his fingers through the array of dark brown hair. "But she doesn't have to make us wait like this! I'm hungry!"

Kenshin smiled warmly at the twelve year old boy. "Be patient," he said warmly, "your reward for a day's job is coming. You mustn't hurry yourself."

Yahiko looked up at the man. His red eyes followed the two slashes on the left cheek of the man sitting beside him. It was still a bit hard to believe that this man whom can easily be confused for a woman at first glance had actually been one of the deadliest assassins during the revolution only twelve years ago. However, contrary to his fragile appearance, Kenshin had already proven himself to be an extremely skilled swordsman, taking down opponents twice as big with very little effort on his behalf. Yahiko sighed. _Well, after all, he was the Hitokiri Battôusai,_ he thought to himself.

The heavy wooden door opened. Yahiko jumped up ready to go. Kenshin stood up, dusting himself off as he walked down the stone path to the main door. A tall slender man of about six feet casually walked in. The cocky, twenty-one year-old Sanosuke cracked a mischievous smile at the two with his usually fish skeleton between his teeth. Yahiko stopped midway to the door, upset and disappointed, but mostly shocked.

"What are you doing here!" he yelled at Sanosuke. "You free-loader! You don't lift a finger here to help all day long and you expect Kaoru to feed you everyday!"

Sanosuke's smile faded as he brushed the little kid off as his narrow brown eyes locked onto the red-haired man. "Hey," he said, "by any chance is Ayame-chan here?" Kenshin looked back at his tall friend with a blank expression. "I'll take that as a 'no'," Sanosuke responded. "Where could that girl have gone?" he muttered to himself annoyed as he took the fish skeleton from between his teeth and tossed it over his shoulder.

"Ayame-chan is missing?" Yahiko asked.

"Ya," Sanosuke answered a bit frustrated, "Magumi asked her to fetch lunch for her, the two girls and the Doctor at the Akabeko, but she never came back." He scratched his head trying to think. "The moment I stepped into the clinic I had the Vixen all over me, yelling and bossing me around. All she could have done was ask me kindly to look for the little girl." He paused for a moment looking up at the sky, "It's getting late too" he added. Kenshin and Yahiko looked up, the first stars of the evening where beginning to become visible.

"Yahiko," Kenshin said, "stay here and wait for Miss Kaoru. This one is going out to look for Ayame-chan with Sano."

"I'm ganna look for her too!" Yahiko exclaimed.

"No, we need someone to stay here at the dojo to see if Ayame-chan returns. And someone must tell Miss Kaoru of what has happened when she returns."

"Alright," Yahiko responded as the two men stepped out onto the street. He followed behind them and watched as they disappeared behind a corner at the end of the street. After a while he sat down on the thick beam that formed the threshold of the heavy wood doors. The warm spring air that had been blowing all day long had chilled. The twelve year old boy rubbed his arms as he looked up to see the evening stars shine brightly in the early night sky.

--

Kaoru, Sanosuke, Kenshin, Megumi, Tai, Tsubame, and a few of the employees of the Akabeko had gathered at the restaurant. Ayame had disappeared without a trace. No one at the Akabeko had seen her come in or leave the small restaurant that day. The tiny clock at the front desk chimed. It was one in the morning and the search for the little girl had intensified. Dr. Gensi had stayed at the clinic and Yahiko at the dojo to wait and see if the girl would return to either place.

"It was my fault," Megumi began looking down at the floor, "I never should have let her go out alone." Her long black hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned forward, burring her face in the palms of her hand.

"What about Suzume-chan?" Kaoru asked, barely realizing that she had been unheard of since she had learned of Ayame's disappearance. "Where is she? Is she also missing?!"

"No," Megumi managed to say in a trembling voice, "she's at the clinic. She's had a high fever, she hasn't been able to leave her room. Ayame-chan had promised to come back with her favorite dish... but she never did... I ..." The tears that had been building in her light brown eyes began to flow down her ivory skin.

"It isn't your fault Miss Magumi," Kenshin tried to comfort her. "By any chance is there a friend's home that she could have gone to? She might be there."

"I already looked," Megumi said tearfully, "no one has seen her."

"I don't know about all of you," Sanosuke said getting up from one of the tables after finishing his late dinner, "but I'm gonna go out and look for her." The group gathered at the restaurant watched as the tall man stretched and casually made his way to the door. He gave one last quick glance around the room before disappearing from sight.

The rest of the group quickly teamed up in pairs, except for Kenshin and left, leaving behind Tusbame to keep watch over the restaurant. To wait, just in case Ayame came.

--

Two days had gone by and still, Ayame was nowhere to be seen. Now everyone had grown desperate to know what had happened to the little girl. Tokyo was a large city, but still not big enough to get lost in. Kenshin had gone to the police to notify them of Ayame's disappearance, and yet they hadn't seen any girl to fit her description. To make matters worst, three days later Tusbame had also disappeared without a trace when she was sent to the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryû dojo to deliver a lunch to Yahiko. The four rounded lunch boxes she was taking had been found along side the small river that led to the dojo.

When Kenshin returned to the police to notify them of the new disappearance he learned something disturbing. Many young girls and ladies had been disappearing in the last week. With Tsubame, the count came to fourteen. The police had been working hard on finding all these girls, setting up perimeters and check points around the city. A few of the officers were sent to the outskirts of the city and to other small towns surrounding Tokyo to look for anything suspicious. Yet nothing was found.

"It's like they're really disappearing," Kaoru said horrified of the idea as the group had gathered again at the restaurant. The late night scouting had intensified.

"It could be a spirit of a young maiden," Sanosuke began, "having her revenge by taking the girls away from their homes and then taking their spirits!"

Everyone stared at Sanosuke with annoyance. Sanosuke looked around like his explanation was more then satisfactory. "Sanosuke..." Kaoru said making a fist, "one more remark from you about spirits, vengeful ghosts, and other superstitions and I'll..."

"Hey Missy," Sanosuke began in his self defense, "we don't know..."

"Sanosuke, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin's voice interrupted, "please, we can't be quarreling amongst ourselves at a time like this. We have to concentrate on the matter at hand." Both Sanosuke and Kaoru calmed down knowing that Kenshin was more then right. Five days had gone by and they were still no were close to finding Ayame or Tsubame then they had been when the girls first disappeared.

The door to the Akabeko slid open. Everyone looked up, hoping and praying that it would be one of the girls. Instead, a tall man with long black hair walked in. His green eyes quickly spotted out Sanosuke. "I think I might know where the missing girls are," Katsu said in the most composed nature. Everyone's eyes widen.

"You know where Tsubame is?" Ryuko, one of the waitresses of the restaurant asked with an excited tone to her voice as Tai looked at the man with high hopes.

Katsu nodded with a grin on his face.

"Where are they?!" Kaoru demanded, slamming down her hand on one of the tables. Her dark blue eyes locked themselves onto the man. "You don't need to be suspenseful, just let it out!"

To Be Continued...


	2. The Caravan

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin... all of the characters belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro. Besides, if I owned RK, the story wouldn't have been as good as it was   
  
_**Chapter 2:** _

_The Caravan  
_  
A group of four men wondered the dirt road that lead to one of the towns which depended on its trade rout to Tokyo for its survival. Kenshin, Sanosuke, Katsuhiro, and Yoshisuke, an officer in the police force of Tokyo, have been traveling the country roads for nearly four hours. About twenty miles away from one of the smaller towns that surrounded Tokyo, a traveler had found a fairly sizable caravan, camping out a good distance into the woods, far from any roads or villages. The traveler had mentioned that the caravan appeared suspicious, men guarding it with guns and swords. The traveler was turned away when he approached to ask for food and water, or so the drunken traveler's story went.  
  
"I see some smoke," Sanosuke pointed over the treetops. A thick pillar of smoke was barely visible against the night sky. "Is there a village in that direction?" he pointed to a thick forest.  
  
Katsuhiro pulled out a map from his kimono sleeve. His bright green eyes examined it, looking around at his surroundings and trying to pin point their location on it. "I don't think so," he said as he looked up. "The last village we passed on the map was about half an hour ago, and the next one should be about a two hours walk from here, if we keep this pace up."  
  
The four men walked in the direction of the smoke. Soon, a light began to glow ahead of them from between the thick trunks of the trees as they walked through the dark woods. Before long they came upon a campsite, in its center a bonfire burned intensely. Two men, both armed with swords and one of them armed with a rifle, walked around the outer side of it.  
  
"This is more than suspicious," Sanosuke commented, "I wonder what they could be trying to protect?" He looked at the young officer who had come along with them. "Hey you," the young man turned to look at Sanosuke as he was being spoken to, "the police force should be ready to move out of Tokyo by now right? Run along and tell them where we are." The young officer nodded. Turing around, he ran full speed, disappearing in only a matter of minutes into the darkness.  
  
A young lady walked out from the caravan to bring the two guards their meals. With the dim light, she looked to be no older than twenty. Carrying two trays in her hands, she walked carefully to a tree stump. She struggled as she tried hard to balance the trays in her hands while walking. One of the guards walked up behind her as she placed the trays on the stump, wrapping his arms around the girl.  
  
"Let me go!" the young lady cried out trying to pull herself away and dropping one of the trays.  
  
"Come on sweetie," the guard began, "you smell pretty. I wouldn't mind having you tonight." A crocked smile curved his lips as he pulled the girl closer to himself. The girl continued to struggle as tears began to stream down her face.  
  
"Hey," the other guard yelled, "remember, they're worth more if they're virgins." He chuckled.  
  
"Like they'll know when they buy her." He quickly responded as he tightened his grip around the girl's waist. "We'll just make sure that no okiya wants this little flower."  
  
"That will be enough," Kenshin steeped out into the clearing made for the campsite. "This one will not stand back and watch you abuse of this young lady." Sanosuke and Katsuhiro likewise followed.  
  
"This is repulsive," Sanosuke spat on the floor.  
  
The guard let go of the girl, placing one hand on the handle of his sword. The girl stepped back as the other guard passed her.  
  
Kenshin stood still, watching the two as they prepared themselves for a fight. "If it can be, this one prefers not fight," he finally said, "There is no desire to cross blades with you. This one is only searching for two young ladies from Tokyo whom have gone astray some time ago."  
  
The first guard unsheathed his sword as he sped forward, attacking with all his might. "Go to hell!" he yelled as he brought down his blade on the red haired man.  
  
Kenshin easily sidestepped the attack, causing his aggressor to stumble forward off balance. The man spat in anger and lunged again. This time Kenshin stepped into the attack and to the man's left, slapping the incoming blade to the side with the palm of his hand. The guard glared furiously at him. "This one will repeat himself once more," Kenshin said narrowing his eyes on the man, "There is no desire to fight filthy men such as yourselves. All this one wants is to find a few young ladies that have gone missing."  
  
The guard pulled back and readied himself to attack again. He gripped the sword tightly in his hands trying to strategize a way to defeat the intruder.  
  
"If you insist," Kenshin responded. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared from the guard's view. The guard looked around stupefied. Suddenly he felt a sharp object pressed into his back. "Now," began Kenshin again from behind the guard, "Will you be as kind as to cooperate?" The man dropped his sword in fear. He had never seen anyone move that fast before. He began to tremble as red haired man held the sword steady to his back.  
  
"No!" A cry came from behind Kenshin. The young lady pulled down on the barrel of the rifle in the other guard's hands as he fired the weapon. The bullet hit the earth, lifting dirt and grass into the air as it struck halfway between him and the intruder. Kenshin looked back surprised. He had been saved by the young lady. Without hesitation, the guard lifted the weapon above the girl's head. "You little bitch!" he said as he hit her with the butt of the rifle. The girl whirled from the blow and collapsed to the ground.  
  
"You dog!" Sanosuke yelled as he began charging at the rifleman.  
  
The man lifted up his weapon again and aimed, stopping Sanosuke dead in his tracks. Alarmed by the first gunshot and resulting commotion, more people began to come out from the caravan, armed with swords and a few with riffles.  
  
"Now you're .... you're... gonna... you're gonna get it" the swordsman said as he slowly began to step away from the sword pressed into his back. "No way you'll... survive this..." he continued nervously. Kenshin looked at the man, his eyes intense and full of anger. The guard swallowed hard. _This guy looks like a demon_, he thought to himself as he looked straight into the ex-assassin's eyes. _He looks like he wants blood.  
_  
With a flurry of blinding speed, Kenshin whirled his blade back and then up, before finally bringing down the dull-side of his reversed-blade on the guard's shoulder. The man crumpled to the floor unconscious.  
  
"What's the meaning of all this?!" a short chunky man yelled as he made his way to the front of the group. He looked around, taking in the situation. "Who the hell are you?" he asked looking around at the three intruders.  
  
"You're the head of this caravan, correct?" Kenshin queried.  
  
The chubby little man looked at Kenshin, studying him in every way. His tinny dark eyes narrowed on the sword Kenshin held in his hands. He studied the other two as well. After a moment of silence, he cracked a smile making his round little face even rounder. "A has-been samurai and two of his followers? What do you want?"  
  
"Release all the girls you have kidnapped."  
  
"Right," the tiny man answered as he turned around. "Kill them," he ordered tugging on the jacket of his kimono as he began to make his way back from where he had come. "I don't want to hear of them ever again."  
  
Katsuhiro smiled. "So you really think you have a chance?"  
  
The small man turned to look at him. He smiled back. "Of course."  
  
"Then, let me inform you all, that this man is better known as Battôusai Himura," Katsuhiro pointed at Kenshin. A few of the men looked at the red haired man, doubt soon began circulating among them. "You don't believe me?" Katsuhiro continued, "Just look at his red hair and cross like scar on his left check." A few men began to put down their weapons, knowing full well they were no match for such an assassin, especially one as famous as the Hitokiri Battôusai.  
  
"You idiots!" the small man yelled. "That's not the Battôusai! He's only trying to intimidate you! Just look at his clothing! He's a washed up samurai that lost everything during the Meji Restoration! Kill them all!"  
  
The men hesitated for a moment.  
  
"I'll triple the pay for the one who can bring me their heads!"  
  
The men looked at each other. Those possessing swords hesitantly stepped forward, unsheathing their weapons. Gathering up their courage, they began their attack.

---

A/N: Well, I'm finally out of school & on vacation (hurray .) Anyways, I'm still heavily re-editing this fic from it's original state and it will take me some time before I add on any more chapters. I'll probably be adding a new chapter every other month or so, depending on how much time I have. Oh yes, & every now and then I will link up pages to some sketches I have done in the past of some of the scenes. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed your reading   
  
-Eeni/Bunneh/WhiteRabbit


	3. Sakura

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Rurouni Kenshin... all of the characters belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro.

_**Chapter 3:** Sakura  
_  
Pale and round, the moon gave a soft and barely noticeable light to the darkened night sky. A small hill overlooking a campsite glowed softly from the light. The burning bonfire from the center of the site cast long shadows outstretching into the eerie dark woods that surrounded it. Over a dozen men stood on the hill, eyeing one another and tentatively edging towards the lone red haired swordsman before them. The doubtful thoughts of whether this was the real legendary Battousai or yet another imposter lingered in their minds as they continued to edge forward cautiously.  
  
Kenshin studied each man as they edged closer. His violet blue eyes wandered from one man to the next, studying them carefully. His mind quickly trying to determine which one of them would be the brave soul that will lead the pack in its attack. He stood up straight, calmly placing his sword back into its sheath. Slightly hunching over, he placed his right foot before him and his right hand over the sword's handle. Kenshin readied himself for the battle before him. He glanced over at Sanosuke and Katsuhiro for a brief moment before returning his attention to the men surrounding him, now beginning their attack on the three fighters.  
  
The men rushed in on their targets in a mass of disorganization and recklessness. Kenshin stepped into his first attacker, knocking the opponent's blade up and whipping his own against the attacker's stomach. The man's eyes crossed and spittle flew from his mouth as he crashed to the floor. With barely any effort on his behalf, Kenshin dropped the rest of the men before him in a similar fashion with his sakabatô. The reverse blade sword left only bruised all over their bodies as they fell to the ground before they had the chance to bring their weapons to bear.  
  
Sanosuke and Katsuhiro likewise, easily handled the thugs that attacked them. Though unarmed, the two friends aggressively beat their attackers down with fist and foot alike. The weapons in their attacker's hands seemed to be useless against the two former members of the Sekiho-tai Army.  
  
Katsuhiro dodged the blow that came to his head easily. He cracked a smile. "Pathetic" he mocked his attacker. Without turning, the man elbowed him in the face. Stunned, he stepped back, gathering himself from the blow. Skillfully, he dogged the incoming swings of his attacker's attempt to pin him with the sword.  
  
"You're not too bad," Katsuhiro glared at the man as they both backed off one an other, taking a moment to take a breath.  
  
"Neither are you" the man smiled back wickedly, bringing his sword up. Again, the armed man attacked the raven haired ex-member of the Sekiho-tai Army. He swung his weapon wildly in a horizontal slicing fashion. Instantly, Katsuhiro dropped his body to the floor. Seeing his moment of opportunity, he gave the man a sharp blow to the stomach as he lunched himself upward. The man buckled forwards. Releasing the sword in his hands, he wrapping his arms around his abdomen as the wind was literally knocked right out of him. Quickly, Katsuhiro brought his hands together as he pounded them down on the back of the man's head with all his strength, knocking is opponent to the floor unconscious.  
  
Through the groans and complaints of the few fallen guards who dared to attack, a lone swordsman stepped into view before Kenshin. The man's swagger boasted an arrogance of a man who has never lost a fight. His robes were dark and his hair was short and kept. The mob that had stormed from the caravan suddenly stood back as the swordsman drew his blade and readied himself.  
  
The swordsman stepped forward, holding his blade high over his head diagonally.  
  
Kenshin's eyes focused on the man's stance and angle of the sword, clearly recognizing the stance and its possible movements. He lowered himself closer to the ground, holding his blade out horizontally to his left as he narrowed his eyes on the tall man before him. "Let us not waste time. This one is here only for the girls. Move aside and you will not be harmed. Continue on your course however, and your safety can not be guaranteed."  
  
"My name is Itsuwaru Ken," started the man. "I am the son of..."  
  
"No one cares who the hell you are," Kenshin sneered as he eyed his new rival, "now make it easy on yourself and let the girls go."  
  
"He looks really upset now," Sanosuke spoke loud enough for all the men to hear him, "last time I saw him like that he almost killed a guy." A smile crossed his face as men began to coward in fear.  
  
Itsuwaru grinned. "Almost..." he smiled, "it's not good enough." Again, he took up his stance and readied himself for what seemed to be an interesting battle. He swiftly dashed forward and brought his blade down with incredible precision.  
  
Kenshin deftly side-stepped the attack and shoved his elbow into Isuwara's chest. The blow, however, only made the dark-robed man smile and lift his sword once more. Itsuwaru swung his blade downward diagonally and then spun around for a follow through lunge through the middle. Kenshin was able to parry the first attack and brought his sword high, anticipating another blow from below. Unfortunately, Itsuwaru wasn't that stupid. His lunge caught Kenshin by surprise and forced the red haired wanderer to bring his blade across and side-step, causing the incoming blade to glance off Kenshin's, but slide over and slice his left arm.  
  
Kenshin leapt backwards and took a moment to look over his arm. The wound was small yet deep. Blood ran profusely from it and it burned intensely. "You are stronger than you look."  
  
Itsuwaru smiled and held himself at the ready. "Again?" he mocked.  
  
The fat caravan leader chuckled out loud and couldn't stop himself from gloating over the situation.  
  
Kenshin tore a strip of fabric from his sleeve and tied off the wound. After securing the makeshift bandage, he watched Itsuwaru and studied the blade he held. His heart slowed its beating and his eyes slid almost shut. He flipped his sword around, angling the bladed side his sakabatô outward.  
  
Sanosuke and Katsuhiro glanced at Kenshin and then at each other, clearly lost as to what their friend was up to.  
  
Kenshin ran at Itsuwaru with his blade leveled on his right. He stopped short of his opponent and dropped his body low before sending his blade through an upward slicing arc. Itsuwaru brought his blade up in an attempt to block the attack. The red haired man's blade sliced his opponent's sword clearly in two, shocking the dark-robed man. The Battousai instantly followed through with a quick jab of his hilt into Itsuwaru and another blow to the abdomen. Itsuwaru muttered something incoherently and fell to the ground.  
  
Every man who still remained standing watching the fight stood in shock. Itsuwaru wasn't one to be taken lightly. More so since he had been taught swords by a former Meji Revolutionary from the Satsuma clan, fighting to over throw Emperor Tokugawa.  
  
"Enough," hollered the caravan leader angrily, "Swords are from the days of old anyway. Introduce these three to some modern weaponry!"  
  
The few guards that held riffles in their hands threw down their swords and began to brandish their rifles menacingly. Sounds of rifles being cocked and readied echoed for a few seconds as the three found themselves surrounded and outgunned.  
  
Kenshin edged over to Sanosuke and Katsuhiro, keeping his hand on his hilt.  
  
"What now?" asked Sanosuke nervously looking around.  
  
"Wait," replied Kenshin without a worry in the world.  
  
Katsuhiro began counting all the guns that were aimed at them. "Wait?!" his voice came in almost a shriek, "wait for what?!"  
  
Kenshin smiled and relaxed his hand from his sword. "We are not alone." His eyes darted to the dark woods.  
  
Before either Katsuhiro or Sanosuke could question their friend any further, armed men stormed out from the woods at great speed. Some were on horseback, others on foot. All of them wore the dark blue tell tale uniform of the police. The policemen quickly surrounded the caravan and brought their rifles to bear. "Lower your weapons at once," warned an officer leading the troupe as he rode up to the caravan's plump leader, unsheathing his sword. "You get one warning, or we'll open fire," he pointed his weapon at the short man.  
  
Realizing that they were far outnumbered and their boss wasn't paying them enough to take a bullet, the men dropped their guns and raised their hands.  
  
"Mr. Himura," the leading officer rode up to Kenshin, his round glasses reflected the blazing light of the bonfire in front of him. "It seems that you were able to take care of this situation on your own. We deeply thank you for your services," Chief Officer Uramurae said as he dismounted from his horse. Kenshin smiled at the young Chief. The battle had ended with no losses. The site instantly became a mass of semi confusion as the police officers gathered the men on the floor and those who had surrendered.  
  
Looking around, Sanosuke saw the young lady who had saved Kenshin's life sitting on the floor, trembling with fear. No one had come to her aid yet. Reluctantly, he went over to help her. "Are you alright missy?" he asked her. She nodded rubbing the side of her face, which was now blue. The entire battle through she had sat in awe, watching the three men fight, never moving. "Those bastards", Sanosuke muttered lifting the girl off the floor, "what the hell did they think they were doing?"  
  
"They were going to sell us", the young girl responded. Sanosuke looked at her inquisitively. She turned her eyes down. "They were going to sell us like slaves," she began to cry, "to anyone they pleased, our lives meant nothing to them!" She wrapped her arms around the tall man's neck as he walked to one of the doctors that the police had brought with them. Gently, he put her down. "Thank you", she finally whispered, "thank you for coming to save us."  
  
Sanosuke smiled. "It's no problem" he responded warmly as he walked away, "take care of yourself from now on." Sanosuke searched around to find Kenshin and Katsuhiro. With the mass number of people now running around it became a bit hard to find anyone. After a bit of confusion he finally spotted out the short red haired man talking with the chief of the police force. The police Chief stood tall compared to Kenshin, his large round glasses continued to dance with the light of the bonfire. "Hey, Kenshin", he said as he walked up, "that girl that saved your life, she said that these guys are slave traders or something like that. Those bastards..."  
  
"Yes," the Chief agreed, "two other young ladies have told us the same story. And one little boy told us that these people have kidnapped children from their homes as well." He sighed, "he also told us that most the children were threaten and beaten to never mention anything about their pasts again."  
  
"This is horrible," Kenshin finally said after a moment of silence. "This shouldn't be happening in this new era." He closed his eyes, remembering the brutal assault that he had lived through when he was just a child.  
  
"Brother Ken!" A familiar voice rang with delight from behind them. They all turned to look. A little girl ran out from among a group of girls that where being escorted out of a tent. Her long honey brown hair danced wildly about her shoulders with ever step she took as she pushed her way past the police officers that where trying to keep her from fleeing. Kenshin smiled as he kneeled down with his arms wide open. Ayame jumped into his arms, tightly wrapping hers around him and began to cry.  
  
"It's alright," Kenshin reassured the nine year old girl, "you're going to be alright Ayame-chan." Kenshin looked around. He couldn't see Tsubame anywhere. "Ayame-chan, do you know if Tsubame-chan is here as well?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know," Ayame continued to cry. Her light brown eyes began to wander around the campsite aimlessly. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."  
  
Sanosuke sighed with relief. "At least she's here," he said looking around.  
  
It wasn't long till Kenshin and Ayame found Tsubame. The young girl was being interrogated by one of the police officers when Ayame cried out to her. Tsubame quickly got up from her place and ran to Kenshin. She too wrapped her arms around him and began to cry. "I thought I was never going to see anyone again!" Kenshin comforted her the best he could. "I was so afraid," continued the thirteen year old girl.  
  
Kenshin looked up at the officer, "This one will take them home now," he said. The officer nodded, he was well aware of who the man was and knew that the two girls where in safe hands. Kenshin took in the whole scene as he walked with the two girls. So many children had been kidnapped to be later sold as slaves and geishas. The whole scene brought back many painful memories of his past.  
  
---  
  
A week had gone by since Tsubame and Ayame returned with Sanosuke, Kenshin and Katsuhiro. The girls were showered with attention. After their arrival, Megumi was called to take a look at the two girls and at Kenshin's arm. Now, Dr. Gensi wouldn't let one girl leave the clinic without the other and Tsubame was now always accompanied when leaving the restaurant. Everything was getting back to normal. However, four days after they had returned, Kenshin left the dojo without saying a word.  
  
"When do you think Kenshin is coming back?" Yahiko asked as the warm afternoon dragged on.  
  
"Whenever he wants to", Sanosuke sat down on the narrow veranda overlooking the back yard. "You know him, he has to uphold justice were ever he can." He laid down on the board walkway, cradling the back of his head in his arms. "Besides, he'll be alright."  
  
"So there are more then one of those caravans?" Kaoru inquired brushing back her long black hair.  
  
"Ya," Sanosuke closed his eyes, "They're spread all over Japan. Kidnapping kids and selling them as slaves to anyone they want to. Including foreigners."  
  
"So why didn't you go, you lazy bum?" Yahiko scowled.  
  
Sanosuke looked up at Yahiko with a frown. "Going out of my way to bring people happiness isn't one of my turn-ons, runt. Besides, if you think something like that needs a helping hand, why don't you go?" The young boy frowned. "I thought so," Sanosuke growled, "Anyways police all over Japan have been warned of this situation. They don't need my help."  
  
"I hope he's alright" Kaoru said gently, "I hope he comes back safely."  
  
"You never know when this one might have to go again." Kenshin smiled at Kaoru as he closed the door behind him.  
  
"Kenshin..." she sighed.  
  
---  
  
Three weeks have gone since Kenshin set out by himself in search of the numerous caravans that wandered Japan, kidnapping and selling children. Spring was almost over. The heat and rain of the summer season were barely beginning. Yahiko had begun to complain more often about his new chores, now having to take on the washing of the laundry as well.  
  
"Kenshin better get back soon," he muttered under his breath as he continued to wash cloths.  
  
"Why are you upset?" Ayame asked cheerfully, "Brother Ken said its fun to wash laundry!"  
  
"Ya, fun!" Suzume chimed in. The two girls had been watching him all morning long.  
  
"Right... fun... sure..." he continued scrubbing. He looked over at Ayame and Suzume. The days had grown too hot for the two girls to be playing around the yard so they were sitting with Sanosuke on the engawa right outside the guest room. "Why don't you help, you bum?"  
  
Sanosuke looked over. "I wash my own laundry back home" a wicked smile crossed his face. Suzume began to tug on the white sleeve of his arm. "Besides, can't you see I'm busy here?" The two girls looked up at Sanosuke with glee as they continued their board game. Since Kenshin wasn't around they somehow managed to get Sanosuke to play with them every time he visited, although he wasn't very good with children and even worst when it came to playing games that required thinking. Suzume tugged on his arm again. "Alright!" he forced an annoyed smile on his face as he looked down at the little girl, pondering his next move on the board.  
  
"Hey! Look everyone!" Kaoru's voice rang from the front as she ran into the back yard. "I got a letter! It's from Kenshin!" She held up a letter in one hand and pulled up her kimono in the other as she ran across the yard to where Sanosuke and the two girls were sitting.  
  
"Brother Ken wrote to us!" the seven year old Suzume jumped up. "What does is say?" she asked cheerfully. Kaoru sat down on the edge of the engawa, neatly tucking her kimono under her as the two girls gathered on each side of her. Yahiko shock his hands dry, leaving the laundry to join the others on the narrow veranda.  
  
"To everyone at the Kamiya Dojo," Kaoru began reading out loud, "This one is sorry to have departed without uttering a single word. This one is not sure when, but my return to Tokyo will be soon. My apologies for having worried any of you." Kaoru paused for a moment and smiled. "He's finally coming back," she sighed with relief.  
  
"Hey, what does that say?" Sanosuke questioned pointing to the end of the letter.  
  
"A request of you Miss Kaoru," she continued to read, "Would you be as kind enough to accept another person into your home? This one will deeply appreciate it. Thank you." Kaoru stared at the letter.  
  
"Looks like this ran down dojo is turning into a homeless shelter," Sanosuke snickered. A sharp pain ripped through his arm. He jumped back at the sudden sensation. Kaoru had pinched him with all her might.  
  
"How dare you insult my home!" she hissed at him.  
  
"Take it easy! It was just a joke!" Sanosuke rolled up his sleeve. A bright red spot marked the place where Kaoru had taken the liberty to pinch him. He rubbed his arm frowning at the nineteen year old woman.  
  
"I wonder who he's bringing back..." Yahiko questioned himself looking down at the letter. They all looked at each other, not having the slightest idea who Kenshin could possibly want to bring back with him from his travels.  
  
---  
  
The small group retuned to the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryû Dojo after a good dinner at the Akabeko. Kaoru opened the wooden door allowing Megumi, Dr. Gensi, the two girls, Sanosuke, and Yahiko to enter. Slowly they made their way into the small greeting hall of the house. The candles lighted the room with a soft light as everyone sat down to relax for the rest of the evening.  
  
Two weeks had gone by since she had received Kenshin's letter and still he was no where to be seen. "Kenshin..." she sighed softly.  
  
"What's that noise?" Sanosuke looked up at the shôji doors. The talking in the room subsided as everyone's eyes followed Sanosuke's. Quietly he got up, walking slowly to the door he continued to listen. Footsteps could be heard approaching as the wooden floor creaked with each step taken on the narrow veranda outside.  
  
Kaoru felt her heart beat faster. There had never been any incident in the dojo when someone had broken in. There literally was nothing worth stealing at the dojo. She watched as the shôji door slid open. The dim moonlight silhouetted a short figure in the doorway for a few seconds. Kenshin stood on the veranda looking in. A warm smile crossed his face as he glanced at the small group that had gathered.  
  
"Good evening," he said.  
  
"You idiot!" Sanosuke brought down his fist on Kenshin's head, knocking him down to the floor, "I was about to beat you up!"  
  
"Ooorrrooo...." Kenshin muttered as he lay in on the floor.  
  
"Are you alright?" a voice came from the shadows of the engawa Kenshin laid in.  
  
He sat up. "It's aright Sakura-chan," he looked up behind him, rubbing the back of his head. Sanosuke slid open the other door of the room. A young girl stood looking down at the red haired man on the floor.  
  
"Hey, who is that?" Yahiko pointed at the girl.  
  
Kenshin stood up, placing his hands on the young girl's shoulders he smiled. "This is my daughter. Himura Sakura."

---

A/N: Ya... I actually had time to sit and reread & rework this fic. I'm so happy. Anyways, thank you Dragon King for bringing to my attention the whole "" thing... I really didn't know anything at all about that, so thanks a bunch for clearing that up with me   
  
As for Kenshin's past... that really doesn't begin 'til chapter 5.... yes, you have 1 more chapters to read until I actually post up the chapters about his past! WAHAHAHAHAHAA!!! And as you can now see, chapters 1-3 were just to set things up for Sakura's intro (which sparks a load of questions to the rest of the characters). Anyways, thanks for your comments and I hope you keep enjoying the read 6


	4. Megumi's Doubts

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Rurouni Kenshin, then no one would know who the hell Watsuki Nobuhiro was and there wouldn't be a need for me to be writing a fanfic with an alternative past of Kenshin's life. IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!

_**Chapter 4:**_

_Megumi's Doubts_

All eyes lay on the young girl that Kenshin had returned with, not knowing whether what was said was actually true. Even in the dim light, her features were striking, grabbing everyone's attention. Her fiery red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, tied off with a strip of a dark blue cloth. Her naturally formed dreadlocks flowed beautifully from the dark blue cloth, nestling neatly at the back of her head as the tips of her abundant hair slightly curled. Her crystal blue eyes pierced through from deep below her bangs and her ivory skin almost looked ghostly wrapped in the dark blue kimono she was wearing.

Megumi strolled up to the young girl. The girl took a step back into Kenshin. She seemed to be afraid. Then again, who wouldn't be afraid of having a group of strangers staring at you like you where some sort of circus animal? Megumi looked at Kenshin, gathering her thoughts.

"Daughter?" was the only thing she managed to say after a while of thinking. Kenshin nodded with a warm smile. Megumi knelt down in front of the young girl, reaching up she took the girl's chin in her hand. Gently she moved the girl's head from side to side, examining her, taking in every detail she could. The girl's crystal blue eyes locked on to the tall dark haired woman, never looking away from the strange woman until Megumi in return looked her in the eye. The girl grew nervous and pulled away, half turning she looked up at Kenshin.

"It's alright Sakura-chan," he smiled down at her, "these are all my friends." Sakura looked at Megumi again. "This is Miss Takani Megumi, she's an excellent doctor," he nodded to Megumi as she got up. "Myôjin Yahiko, a student here at the dojo," he looked at Yahiko, Sakura's eyes followed his glance to the young man. "Miss Kamiya Kaoru is the one you've been told about," Sakura looked up at Kaoru. "Sagara Sanosuke, and Dr. Gensi."

"You forgot us Brother Ken!" Suzume protested getting up from her cushion.

"My apologies, how could you have slipped my mind?" he smiled. Sakura looked over at the two girls. "The younger one is Suzume-chan, and the other fine young lady is Ayame-chan. They are Dr. Gensi's granddaughters."

Suzume grinned with joy. Walking towards Kenshin and Sakura she reached up. "Hello."

Sakura stretched her hand out to greet her. "Hello" she answered sheepishly.

"Are you going to stay with us for a while?" Ayame asked from her place.

Sakura looked up at Kenshin, as if she was waiting for him to give her a sign of approval. Kenshin in turn glanced over at Kaoru, who was trying to take everything in. Her mind raced with questions, while her face showed disbelief. Kaoru was caught completely off guard. When she had wondered who it was that Kenshin was bringing back from his travels, she imagined an old friend or someone he had thought would be a good student to bring to the dojo. Never once did it cross her mind that Kenshin would bring back a girl, even less calling her his daughter. But now that she thought of it, he was eleven years older then her. Why had it never occurred to her that he had once been married? After all, for ten years this man had been wandering all over Japan before finally arriving at her family's dojo only two years ago. Now that she thought about it, he had never spoken about his personal life prior to arriving at the dojo.

"Is it alright with you Miss Kaoru," Kenshin's voice brought her back from her daze, "is it alright if Sakura-chan stays here?"

Kaoru looked up at Kenshin, stupefied and confused, her mind still racing. She looked down at the girl and then at Kenshin again. She felt a tug on the back of her kimono, turning her head slightly she looked down to see Ayame smiling up at her. "Umm... yes... of course she can," she tried hard to smile, "of course your daughter can stay here..." she trailed off. She could feel her heart sink deep down in her. _A daughter,_ she continued to think, _Kenshin has a daughter..._

---

As the weeks progressed, Kenshin and Sakura began to look more and more like father and daughter. She followed him everywhere and helped him in just about everything he did. Like wise, Kenshin had grown more attached to this young girl then he had ever been with Ayame or Suzume. He even went out of his way for her, borrowing money and buying the girl two new kimono.

Takani Megumi hurried herself along the busy streets of Tokyo's merchant distract. As a doctor, she hardly had time to leave the clinic to do anything, even if Dr. Gensi was taking care of the patients. Even when she did leave, she had to hurry herself back and this was one of those times. As she slowed her pace she reached into her sleeve to pull out a list of items needed to be purchased for the clinic and personal items for herself and Dr. Gensi.

As she left the small shop she had entered only moments earlier, she looked over at a group that had gathered. Being a tall woman helped in a way. She was able to look over most of the heads in the crowd and into the center of its interest. There, three men stood holding up their swords, although she was unable to see their opponent.

"Another street fight," she sighed to herself as she brushed back her long black hair. She folded the list, carefully placing it into the sleeve of her dark purple kimono as she began to walk away. In a split second, the crowd behind her was in an uproar. She turned in time to see something make its way from one end of the crowd to where the three men stood. Squinting, she tried to get a good look at what was happening, but was unable to do so. Shortly the crowd parted, making way for a red-haired man and two girls.

"Ken-kun," she said in amazement. She watched as Kenshin made his way quickly away from the crowd, placing his sword back into its sheath as Suzume and Sakura followed at his heels. The two girls trotted behind him to keep up. Suzume said something as she held out a wooden bucket towards the red haired man. He stopped. Taking the bucket from the small girl he hurried them in front of him as they caught up.

Megumi followed the three and in no time managed to catch up to them. "Ken-kun!" she yelled as she spotted the wanderer. Kenshin stopped, turning to look for who had called him. Spotting out Megumi, he smiled at her as she approached.

"Ken-kun," she began looking down on him, "what happened?"

Kenshin continued to smile looking up at the tall woman. "Some people just wanted to make trouble." He reached for his sword with his free left hand, holding it up he said, "it seems that this is just an invitation for trouble."

Suzume tugged at Megumi's kimono. "They wanted to take Sakura-san," she wiped her eyes. Her tiny hands left a smug of dirt across her face.

Megumi reached into her right sleeve retrieving a handkerchief. Dampening it with her tongue she wiped the dirt away from the small girl's face as the she tried hard to tug away. "Hold still Suzume-chan!" she grabbed the little girl by the arm. When she finished, she folded the handkerchief and returned it to her right sleeve as she looked down at Sakura. The young girl downcast her eyes, not wanting to meet the older woman's glance. "Really?" she finally asked with a brow crocked up. "Why would anyone want to take Sakura-chan?"

Kenshin looked down at the red haired girl at his side and shrugged. "There are many strange people in this world," he answered.

A moment of awkward silence followed before Kenshin finally spoke again. "This one must return to the dojo now," he looked down at the wooden bucket he was holding in his right hand, "the tofu needs to be readied for dinner."

Megumi nodded and the two departed. Megumi took Suzume with her back to the clinic as Kenshin hurried back to the edge of the city of Tokyo, to the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryû Dojo.

---

"I still don't believe it," Megumi continued to protest.

"What's there not to believe?" Sanosuke asked, "if Kenshin said it's his daughter, then..."

"No," Megumi interrupted, "she looks nothing like him!"

Sanosuke scratched his head with his left hand. There was no way he wanted to start an argument with her, but now it was almost inevitable. "Well, she does have that same red hair..." he muttered. Megumi looked up at him crossly.

The two remained silent as Megumi finished examining his right hand. The battle in Kyoto nearly two years ago had left his right hand a complete wreck. She herself was unsure at what kind of force he could have used to practically destroy his wrist and hand as much as he did. Sanosuke had sprained three metacarpals in his wrist, broken another five. Along with his wrist, he had also broken nearly all of the first and second phalanges in his fingers, making a few nerves running from his fingers midway up his forearm to "pop" out of place. However, no matter how many times she explained it to him, he was still unsure of what it all meant. All he knew was that it was painful. She was checking his hand again because he had complained of pain whenever he held his chopsticks. His wrist had sprained open again, forcing a few nerves out of place for the fifth time in two years.

Megumi looked up at him. "Do not use any force or do anything that can stress that hand, and I mean ANY!" she began to lecture him again, "the reason it keeps spraining open is because you force it too much." She got up with a look of rage in her face. After a while of cleaning her working area she began speaking again. "I, for one, want to know the whole truth, and I will beat it out of Ken-kun myself if I must!" She walked to the next room, disappearing from sight.

Sanosuke got up. Seeing his opportunity to leave the clinic without saying a word he tiptoed his way to the door before hearing Megumi yell at him.

"And where do you think you are going?" she inquired crossly.

Sanosuke slid the door open. "I need some fresh air," he began. She glared at him even more furiously then before. He slumped his shoulders down in defeat. "I don't have anything to pay you with," he began to explain as he sighed, "and I was..."

"I know what you were doing!" she snapped at him.

"Then why are you bugging me?"

Megumi turned to the other room again. In a much sweeter tone she called, "Dr. Gensi, I will return late. Don't wait up for me!"

"Of course Miss Megumi," Dr. Gensi's voice came from one of the patients' room.

She rushed pass Sanosuke to the main door. "What are you waiting for?" she yelled at him.

Sanosuke gave a sign of confusion. His slender face scrunched up as he eyed Megumi over. He had never seen her so upset before. "Wait," a thought suddenly ran through his mind, "you're not planning to go over to the dojo now are you?"

"I am!"

Sanosuke sighed. There was no stopping her now, she was on a roll. Her thoughts were fixed on getting the whole truth out of Kenshin tonight. He closed the door to the clinic behind him in defeat. It was already late and there was no way he was going to let the 'Vixen' wander around Tokyo at this hour. And so, the two set out in the direction of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryû Dojo in the late night hours.

---

Kenshin sat outside his room looking up at the night sky. It had rained a day earlier and now the sky was perfectly clear. The moon shone brightly in the sky, even if it only was a crescent. Megumi walked straight up to him.

"I don't want to hear anymore lies. Why do you call her your daughter?"

Kenshin looked up at her. His expression was somewhat sadden as he leaned back on a beam. The chirping of the crickets grew louder as he remained speechless. Slowly, he turned his gaze into his room. The tall woman's brown eyes followed his glance through the wide open shôji doors. The glow of the moon outlined a silhouette on the floor of the room. Sakura was asleep in his futon.

"You've even gone as far as to let her sleep in your room!" Megumi yelled.

"Please Miss Megumi," Kenshin's voice was soft, "Sakura-chan is sleeping."

"I don't care about that girl!"

Kenshin sighed.

"Well?"

Kenshin beckoned Megumi to sit next to him. As she sat down, he turned to look down the dark hallway from where she had confidently walked down. He smiled to himself as he made out two familiar silhouettes in the dark hallway. "If you wish, you can all come and sit with Miss Megumi and myself."

The tall, slender figure of Sanosuke emerged from the shadows of the hallway. With the bright moonlight, his white attire glowed an almost ghostly color as he walked towards his friend. Close behind him, the much shorter and more feminine figure of Kaoru followed, her arms wrapped around herself in the cold evening breeze. The two sat down quietly. All eyes laid on Kenshin with great interest. The red haired man sat with one leg hung over the side of the veranda. With his toe, he poked at the cold gray stepping stone. Megumi's patience had been thin the entire day and she soon began to grow even more impatient. Anticipating her thoughts and words, Kenshin spoke softly. "This one really doesn't know where to start..."

Kaoru glanced over at him. Before she could utter a word, Megumi spoke up. "Who is she?" she pointed at Sakura through the open shôji doors.

Kenshin hung his head down without saying anything. After a while he finally answered in a low tone, "Himura Sakura."

"It's a lie," Megumi snapped back, "Who is she Ken-kun?"

Again Kenshin remained silent with his head hung down. He brought his left hand up to his face, rubbing the side of his nose as a slight smile crossed his lips. "You're very sharp Miss Megumi..." his voice came with a hint of mirth, "there's no fooling you is there?"

"What are you implying?" Sanosuke asked confused.

Kaoru looked at Kenshin as confused as Sanosuke. "Are you saying that Sakura isn't your daughter?"

"No..." Kenshin answered, "Sakura is my daughter..." he looked up pass the group, into his room. The young girl slept quietly on the futon. He watched the covers on her rise and fall slightly as she took each breath. Slowly he got up from his place, making his way past everyone carefully and into his room. The three continued to watch him as he searched through the few belongings he possessed.

"What can he be looking for?" Sanosuke looked over at Kaoru. She shrugged. After a while, Kenshin finally made his way back outside. As he sat down, Kaoru noticed a small brown package tied with yarn in his hands.

"What's that Kenshin?" she asked curiously.

Kenshin didn't answer. He played with the package for a while, turning it over and over again in his hands. "Well?" Sanosuke asked, "aren't you gonna open it?" Kenshin stopped, he grasped the package with both his hands. "Kenshin, what is that?" Sanosuke asked again.

Kenshin sat staring at the package, neither Kaoru, Sanosuke, or Megumi were able to see his face. He began to play with the small package again, this time flipping it slower then before. After turning it in his hands a few more times, he finally opened the brown paper package carefully, taking his time. Inside lay a small lavender kimono folded neatly. Pink cherry petals in groups of four were embroidered in irregular patterns across it.

"It's so tiny," Kaoru gasped.

"It was Sakura-chan's when she was just an infant," Kenshin replied slowly, "Akiko-san made it for her with great joy."

"Akiko?" Sanosuke questioned.

"Yes... Sakura's mother."

The three stared at Kenshin in shock. Never once had he mentioned to any of them that he was married. Kaoru began to feel a great shallow feeling consume her. Her heart felt like it had been broken yet again. "You're married..." she whispered in the cool night air.

"No," Kenshin responded almost immediately, "We were never wed... although we should have."

"I don't quit understand..." Sanosuke looked down.

Kenshin lifted his head with his usual heart warming smile. "It's understandable that you wouldn't." He paused, taking in a deep breath. "It's been over ten years..." he sighed nostalgically. "Well," he began looking at his audience, "shortly after turning fourteen, this one left his master's side to travel to Kyoto, to the center of the revolution... It didn't take long for the leaders of the Ishin Shishi to recognized my talent. Soon, this one was assign difficult assassination missions. In one of those first missions as a hitokiri, this one was sent out to protect someone important and..."

_To be Continued_...

----

**A/N**: Work sucks... I have no time to have a social life. I'm so damn drained at the end of the day that I just fall asleep 'till the next morning & just go to work. I guess that means I have no life anymore Anywho, ya, it took me a longer time then I thought to get around to posting this chapter up. I was just so wrapped up with things happening, especially wrapped up with my parent's wedding anniversary (25 years together).


	5. Takahashi Akiko

**Disclaimer:** I don't own "Rurouni Kenshin; Meji Kenkaku, Roman-tan"... I think we should all be clear on that by now. looks over the disclaimer Yes, that should do nicely.

**_Chapter 5:   
_**_Takahashi Akiko_

The night was cold as Kenshin and a few other of his fellow swordsmen walked the country roads. Their job was simple. Protect Okubo Toshimichi, one of the many leaders of a revolutionary's group, as they escorted him from the bay of Osaka to Kyoto. As he walked along, trailing at the back of the group, Kenshin brought his hand up to his left check. Slowly he ran the tips of his fingers over a patch. The scars on his face were still fresh and burned intensely. It had only been two days since he had let his guard down, allowing his enemies to get so close as to scratch his face.

"Are you alright?" Atsushi, one of his comrades, asked looking at the young man. Kenshin nodded. "Does it still hurt Himura-san?" Kenshin continued to run his fingertips over the blood socked patch without saying a word. "That's a pretty bad scar," Atsushi continued, "it'll take months before the wounds completely heals... of course you're going to have that cross shaped scar left." Kenshin looked up at Atushi in dismay. Murai Atsushi used to be both a doctor and a kenjetsu student before the revolution. It was Atsuhi who tended to the wounded of the group, and it was he who had treated Kenshin with his new scars. His skills with medicine were far superior to those of his sword, but he hated the Tokugawa rule and wished to see a day when all men were free from classes.

Kenshin looked up at the full moon. "So it won't go away?" he asked disappointed.

Atsuhi placed his hand on the young man's shoulder, "I'm afraid it won't."

The group continued to walk down the country roads. The full moon acted both to their advantage as well as their disadvantage. It shone light on the road ahead of them, allowing them to see everything. However, it also allowed everything to see them. The group soon came to the cliffs of the Yodo River, the road narrowed. Of course they all knew that escorting a person such as Okubo Toshimichi from Osaka to Kyoto was going to be a difficult task. But never once did it cross any of their minds that the Shinsengumi had gathered enough information as to when Okubo was to journey to Kyoto. The path before them, as well as behind, was soon blocked with the members of the Shinsengumi. To one side they had only about three feet before the cliff started to rise steeply again and to the other they had a drop that fell to a black nothing below in the night.

"Himura-san," a cheerful voice came as a young man stepped forward, "I am honored to meet you." He smiled as he drew his sword. Kenshin looked at the young man confused, unaware of whom he was. Never before had he ran into him, yet the young man's friendly smile and courteous words came almost as if they had known each other for years.

"Okita..." Atsushi muttered under his breath. Kenshin looked up at his elderly friend. Soshi Okita. He had heard many stories of this young warrior. His skill with the sword was mortal for all his opponents, such was the reason that he was elected Captain of the first division of the Shinsengumi. His abilities even out shone those of his much senior comrade, Hajime Saitou.

"Hello Murai-san," Okita responded as he took notice of the tall, slender man, "I didn't notice you." Again, he spoke in the most courteous manner. The young man's smile faded as he took a glance at the surroundings.

The two groups readied themselves for yet another life or death battle. However, this time the life of one of the most famous revolutionary, Okubo Toshimichi, was at stake.

---

Kenshin slowly opened his eyes. His head was throbbing with pain, as was the rest of his body. He slowly took in his surroundings. The small room was quite dark. The only light was that of the single candle at the side of his futon. As he sat up he felt a sharp pain rip through his entire body. He was sore all over. For a while, he sat quietly in the room, allowing the pain to subside. A small light glowed on the other side of the paper thin fusuma door to his right, a candle he thought to himself. He continued to look around. A small glimmer caught his eye. A sword lay on the floor next to a rack near the shôji door on his left. The rack itself had clothes hanging on it. As he studied them he soon realized they were his clothes. He looked down on himself surprised. His arms and legs where all bandaged as was his right foot and head. "This one still lives..." he muttered to himself, "but... where... where is this... place...?"

Painfully he tired to get up. The moment he stood, his legs gave way and he fell to the futon again. His right ankle was in utter and complete pain. Ignoring the pain, he got up again. This time forcing himself to stand up and limped his way to where his sword and cloths lay. He quietly changed. Taking his sword as a crutch he began to limp his way to the shôji door of the room. He took one last look at the tiny room, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

As he placed his hand on the shôji, the fusuma on the opposite side of the room slid open. A young lady on the other side of the paper-like door jumped back, they stared at one another from across the room for a moment. Her hair was braided back with a few strands flowing down over her face. Her eyes, a dark brown color, locked themselves intensely on the young man on the other side of the room as she stood in sock with her mouth slightly opened.

"What are you doing?!" the young lady finally exclaimed, "You mustn't be up!" She rushed over to the young man. Taking his right arm over her shoulder she walked him back the futon. Carefully, she helped him sit back down. Quickly, she took the sword from him and placed them back by the rack. Kenshin watched quietly as she went back to the door on the right side of the room. On the floor next to the wooden door frame laid a tray and a candle. The young girl brought both items in, closing the fusuma behind her delicately. She walked over slowly and placed the items next to the red haired youth. He looked at the tray full of food. The sweet scent quickly filled his nostrils.

"Here," the young lady handed him the tray, "this is for you." She placed the tray in front of Kenshin.

He looked down at the tray, taking the chopsticks in his right hand he looked at her again. "Thank you Miss," he said quietly. She smiled back sheepishly.

Feeling almost starved, the young man ate the meal set before him. Never before had be been given such a variety of foods. As he ate, his mind raced to remember what had happened before he had fallen off the cliff. Slowly, he remembered his near death experience. He could still clearly see how he had forced Okita to the edge of the cliff. Okita had been cornered with nowhere to go.

-----

The young captain of the first group of the Shinsengumi was probably no older then seventeen, yet his abilities were those of a master swordsman. Before the battle had begun, he had made it very clear that he wished to be the one to battle the Battôusai. In a split second, Kenshin's group was smothered by the enemy, and greatly out numbered. Only seconds into the battle was Okubo Toshimichi slain. The men immediately around the great leader quickly followed. Slowly, one by one, the revolutionaries fell. Those who still lived fought viciously for their lives. The Shinsengumi were ruthless in their ways, cutting down men with ease. Yet not one of them dared to come close to the young red haired man. Even as Kenshin went in aid of his friend Atsushi, the enemy backed away. Atsushi stood behind the young hitokiri, thankful to the young man.

Okita strolled through the crowd in battle as if he was strolling in a park during a late summer afternoon. His face void of expression as he watched the young assassin from between sword fights. He narrowed his light brown eyes as he came into plain view of Kenshin, sword in hand. Kenshin brought up his weapon, positioning himself in front of Atsushi. Soon, all fights began to impede one by one to watch the upcoming encounter. The echoing of swords clashing and men yelling ceased in such an eerie manner that the cold night brought an almost nauseas feeling to all the men present. All eyes laid on the two swordsmen, both being the youngest they had ever seen.

Okita, in another courteous gesture, gave a small bow before readying himself. Soon, the young captain sped forward. The sound of two swords slashing each other echoed off the walls of the cliffs. Without wasting his time, Okita drew his sword back for another blow. Anticipating the blow, Kenshin blocked, however he was thrown back as Okita threw a jab at him. A smile crossed the young leader's face for a split second. Kenshin took a quick look around to take in his surroundings a bit more before he sped forward the few feet that separated him from his opponent. Not anticipating the young hitokiri to attack him as quickly, Okita took a step back only to find himself standing at the edge of the cliff. He struggled to regain his balance as Kenshin's sword came whirling down on him. Without much effort on his behalf, the young assassin shoved Okita off the edge. As he lost his balance, Okita swung his arms around in front of him wildly, managing to take hold on to Kenshin's sleeve and pulling him along as he fell.

Kenshin was caught off guard as the weight of the young captain pulling on his sleeve dragged him over the edge of the cliff as well. In an instant, Okita passed before his eyes. The young leader had managed to take hold of a small shrub growing on the side of the cliff wall. Kenshin was less fortunate and fell to the river below. As he fell, he hit against the wall of the cliff more than once. Franticly, he tried to get a hold of anything to prevent his further falling, but with no avail. When he landed in the river below, he had tried to land upright and had struck a rock in the water, sending a shock of pain throughout his body. When he had gone back to the surface for air, the current quickly dragged him back down. Then he hit yet another rock under the furious rapids. After that he blanked out. He couldn't remember anything.

-----

"You where pretty bad when I found you on the river bank at Uji," the girl said, "It is only by luck that you are still alive. I'm just sorry that your friend didn't make it." She turned her eyes down, looking at the tatami mat. "The doctor said your ankle should be good in about a week or so. You just have to get used to walking again."

"Friend?" Kenshin looked up at her.

"Yes, or at least I believe he might have been your friend. He was found about half an hour down the river by a traveler. He seemed to have had a really strong blow to his head. He was dead when they found him. A tall man, around his thirties. He was carrying medicine on him."

Kenshin looked down on the bowl of rice he was eating. _Atsushi..._, he thought to himself, _he died..._ His expression saddened as he continued to look down at the bowl before him. For the two and a half years that he had been with the Ishin Shishi, it was Atsushi who had first befriended the youth. He had advised the young man on how to act when in the presence of higher ranking members and had acquainted him to the city of Kyoto. "How long has this one been here, Miss?" he asked finally looking up at the young lady sitting beside him.

"It's been a little over two months and a half since I brought you back from Uji."

"Uji?" he questioned surprised. "We're in Uji?"

"No," she smiled weakly at him. "We're in Nara... this is my home. I was visiting relatives in Uji when I found you on the bank of the Yodo River."

Kenshin looked down at his bowl again. He was further south of Kyoto then he had imagined. What startled him the most was the fact that he had been unconscious that long of a time. He questioned himself if he really had been unconscious for that long. It didn't seem to be any more then just a day or two for him. He looked up at the young lady, "Miss... what happened to my ankle?"

"You had broken it", she answered almost surprised at the question. "The doctor did all he could to get back to normal." Kenshin looked at his ankle, it was no wonder it hurt him so much.

"Thank you very much Miss" he smiled kindly at her, "thank you for taking care of this one, Miss."

"Akiko," she answered. Kenshin looked at her taken aback. "My name is Takahashi Akiko."

----

**A/N:** Well that was fun. I'm surprised to see how many spelling and grammar errors I had on this chapter... actually, the whole reason I'm rewriting is to fix my hideous spelling and grammar (Thank GOD for Microsoft Word!). Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up by either Christmas of New Years. Well, I hope you enjoy and that your all happy that I'm finally writing about Ken-san's alternative past. ENJOY!


	6. Geisha

**Disclaimer:** Rurouni Kenshin characters (at least most of them) are all fictional characters created by one Watsuki Nobuhiro. ROCK ON KENSHIN!

_**Chapter 6: **_

_Geisha_

Takahashi Akiko was only fifteen years of age, a year younger then Kenshin. The orphaned daughter of a samurai and court lady, she was a well mannered and kind young lady. She lived by herself in a tiny farm house on the edge of the city of Nara, earning a living as a waitress at a restaurant in the center of the city, far away form the little farm house. She worked everyday, from early morning into the late afternoon hours and never returned until late at night.

During the time that Akiko was away, Kenshin found himself cleaning the house, washing laundry, or making a walking cane from a thick tree branch for himself to pass the time away. Had he wanted to, he could have left the house at any moment to never return. However, his ankle was still in pain and he was barely able to walk a few steps before having to sit down again. He disliked the idea of having to be "locked" up all day long, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it. Slowly and painfully he was getting used to walking again. A few weeks after he had awoken, he began to take long strolls around the mountain side behind the house or wander the neighborhood to kill time when Akiko wasn't home.

Akiko's little house was an odd sight for just about anyone who passed by it. The small home laid on the far edge of the city of Nara. The house, when first built, was a farmer's home which laid a good distance from the city of Nara. As the years progressed, the city grew, tiptoeing its way closer to the tiny home. Before long, the farmlands around it were eventually sold and new homes began to spring around it. As the area around the farm house changed, the tiny home had failed to change in any way. When Akiko moved in only a year ago, she had added two rooms at the back, one of them being her room and the other now being Kenshin's.

The days in July have always been known to be hot. Summer was in full heat and the city of Nara couldn't escape the sun's wrath. The trees at the beginning of the forest behind Akiko's home provided a great amount of shade most of the day, keeping the house cooler than other homes in the area. It was on one of these blazing hot days that Akiko had stayed home. All morning long she had been in her room cleaning and fixing it while Kenshin had taken the liberty to try and cook something for lunch. Of course, Kenshin had never once cooked before in his life, even while growing up he had only watched his master, never once helping.

As the lazy afternoon dragged on, Akiko sat on the tiny veranda at the back the house looking out into the small walled off garden. Her stomach growled. Kenshin had burned almost everything he tried to cook. She was forced to go down into the city to bring back two lunches, the long walk had made her even hungrier, but there was nothing more to eat and she would have to wait until dinner to satisfy her hunger.

A small breeze gently blew through the yard. The sound of rustling leaves filled the air. After a moment of listening to nature, Akiko took up to practicing her shamisen again. Plucking its three strings with precision the melody echoed through the tiny walled off yard and house. Kenshin sat on the other end of the engawa, watching Akiko as she played the guitar-like instrument. The melody seemed very familiar to him, but he was unable to recall from were. He continued to listen as the afternoon wore on.

"Akiko-san!" some one yelled from the street. The two turned to look in the direction of the front door. "Open the door! It's important!"

Akiko put down the shamisen as she got up quickly. "What could she want now?" she muttered to herself.

Kenshin watched from his place as Akiko made her way to the front door. Sliding it open, a young woman stepped into the small dirt pit corridor that made the entry way. Her hair was combed up in a lavishly complicated momoware style and her white face boldly highlighted her thin red lips. Her blue-green kimono was magnificently embroided at the helm in the design of a river bank with gold, blue, green, and silver threads. The large dark blue obi tied to her back was lavishly embroidered with gold threads. It didn't take him long to figure out that the women was a geisha.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" she asked almost in a panic.

"Now what happened, Kuniko-san?" Akiko asked almost annoyed.

The women named Kuniko closed the door behind her, slipping her lacquered zori off she stepped on to the tatami matt that covered the floor. She stopped abruptly as she walked to the same table in the center of the room. The two sliding doors next to Akiko's room were wide open. She glared at a red-haired young man who sat outside on the narrow veranda, surprised at the sight she stood motionless. The man never took his eyes off her, making the women just a little more nervous then she already was.

Akiko sat down at the small table. She turned over to look at Kenshin and smiled. "He's a guest of mine," she informed.

Kuniko looked at the man a while longer before giving a small bow in his direction. "Good afternoon." Kenshin nodded in acknowledgement to the woman's gesture. Kuniko turned to face Akiko once again. She sat down slowly, tucking in her kimono carefully as her knees rested on a tiny cushion. Her dark brown eyes returned to look at the man outside every now and then. "Umm..." she glanced back at Kenshin before turning to Akiko again, "anyways, we need a musician tonight at the teahouse and I thought that maybe..."

"I really wouldn't want to," Akiko interrupted, "especially not in this heat."

"But Akiko-san!" the women protested, "you are the only person anyone knows who can play anything that's worthy of being listened to! You have to come!"

Akiko took in a deep breath. She turned to look in Kenshin's direction. The heat outside was unbearable. Just the thought of having to wear a kimono was enough to giver her heatstroke.

Kuniko placed her hands together before her. "Please," she pleaded. After a moment of silence she added, "Besides, no one ever notices you're not a real maiko. And you're such a beautiful girl!" Akiko remained silent. Kuniko's face frowned as she began to think. "Might I add, the money you can earn in just this one night would be enough for you to live off for more then two months or so." A smile crossed the women's face as Akiko turned her head slightly in her direction.

"Fine," Akiko finally agreed.

The women smiled delightfully, thanking Akiko before leaving. "My maid will come with a kimono for you in a short while," she reached behind into her obi. Pulling out a small silk purse she took Akiko's hand placing a few coins into it. "And this is so you can go get your hair done, you needn't pay me back for it. I'll be back in the evening to help tie the obi and bring your zori." She smiled again. "Thank you child, you're an angel!"

---

As evening approached, Kenshin sat inside waiting for Akiko to return. She had left almost immediately after her visitor to go get her hair done. Kuniko's maid had arrived with a package nearly two hours ago. Kenshin sat at the small table with the package. How he wished he was able to walk. He was bored out of his mind and there was absolutely nothing he could do.

The door soon slide open. Kenshin gazed over ideally as Akiko closed the door behind her. He watched as she went straight to her room without saying a word to him. After a while of searching for something she came back out.

"Your kimono is here", he informed her. She smiled at him as she walked over to the table. She knelt down to open the package. Her small hands carefully unwrapped the brown package. Carefully folded, a silk kimono lay inside. It was colored in different powdery shades of greens, giving it a soft tone, and embroided beautifully with a design of vines around the helm dotted with crimson and red leaves. Carefully she put it to one side. Underneath laid another robe woven in silk. Unlike the kimono, the lime green robe was much thinner, void of any design to it. Akiko picked it up carefully in her arms and made her way back to her room.

An hour later or so, there was a knock at the door. Taking the cane he had fashioned out of a tree branch, Kenshin slowly made his way to the door. The moment he opened it two women on the other side jumped back. Kuniko stared at him, as did her maid. He took a step back allowing them to enter.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier," Kuniko began, "my name is Nitta Kuniko." She took a small bow. Likewise, Kenshin did the same. Before he could introduce himself, Kuniko raced pass him to the table, picking up the kimono as she darted to Akiko's room. To Kenshin, it almost seemed as if she had glided across the room to Akiko's door. "May I?" she asked as she slid the door open just a crack. She smiled before entering the room.

Kenshin took his place at the table again as the woman entered Akiko's room. He looked up at the maid, holding a large package in her arms. She was probably no older then fifteen years of age. Her long black hair was braided back neatly, tied off with a dark blue ribbon that matched her simple kimono. Her honey brown eyes wandered around the small house before coming upon the young man at her side. An uneasy smile crept across her lips as she nodded to him.

"You may sit down if you please," he offered her a small cushion. The girl looked down at him uneasy, forcing a friendly smile she knelt down beside the cushion, placing the package before her. The young man mental frowned.

A few minutes later, the fusama of Akiko's room slid open again. The young maid stood up instantly. Kuniko hurried Akiko out to the center of the room. Kenshin's jaw hung open as he looked at the waitress. The difference from her everyday appearance to that of a geisha was striking. Her face was painted a powdery white tone. Her lips a blood red color and her checks a pale rosy shade. He watched in awe as the maid unwrapped the package she had been carrying and with her mistress, the two wrapped a dark green obi around Akiko's waist.

After everything was done, Akiko looked down at the red haired young man. He had been staring at her the entire time with his jaw slightly opened. She frowned at the expression on his face. Even under the white make up, Kenshin could tell that her cheek had flushed a little.

"See..." Kuniko taunted as she paused from tying the obi, "even he thinks you look beautiful."

Kenshin instantly looked down at the tatami mat as he felt his face burn red. With his head still hung down, his eyes glanced up at Akiko through his bangs. From beneath the array of red hair that flowed freely over his violet blue eyes he caught a glimpse of her smiling down at him. Judging from the expression on her face, he was sure that she wasn't able to see his blushed face. Before leaving, Akiko took a small bag, used to hold the unbuilt shamisen, and her fue, a Japanese flute. She looked over at her guest one last time. Their eyes meet for a moment.

"Don't worry too much about her," Kuniko began to tease placing her hands on the girl's shoulders, "I will take good care of her." With that, the three women disappeared from sight as the front door slid close.

Kenshin sat a moment longer at the table. His heart was still racing from just looking at Akiko dressed up. He let out a long, heavy sigh before finally getting up and slowly making his way to his room. There was no point in staying up any longer. He knew full well that he'd be alone for the rest of the night, at least until Akiko returned early the next morning.

-----

**A/N:** Well, that took me long to fix then I had preciously anticipated... hopefully I can get through the next chapter faster. Keep enjoying!


	7. Cherries

**_Disclaimer:_** Don't own Rurouni Kenshin, and I never will... 'cept the mangas that I'm beginning to buy .

_**Chapter 7:** _  
_Cherries_

As yet another month passed in Nara, Kenshin learned that Akiko was often called by the geisha of the city to take the place of any geisha who couldn't attend a party or were unable to entertain their guests. Akiko herself was not a geisha or even a maiko for the matter and had never even trained to become one. Yet with her manners and musical skill with both the shamisen and fue, almost no one she entertained seemed to notice that she was nothing more then a waitress. Kuniko had many times tried to get the young girl to start training as a geisha, she herself would have been honored to take the young girl in and train her. But Akiko always refused.

"You can earn a great deal more as a geisha..." Kenshin commented one day as they walked down to the city. The warm morning sun shone intensely as they made their way down narrow side streets and beautiful avenues.

"I'm aware of that," she answered almost annoyed at the suggestion, "but it isn't my wish to spend the rest of my life going to parties and dressing up every night in a heavy kimono for people I don't care for."

Kenshin smiled. "But you do look very beautiful in those kimono."

Akiko's cheeks flushed red. Her eyes focused on the road ahead of her as her pace slowed a bit. Kenshin laughed slightly at her reaction to his comment. "My apologies," he said leaning on his self-made walking cane, "this one did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable in any way." Akiko remained silent, she slowed her pace briefly before looking up at him. She felt her cheeks burn red as a warm smile embedded itself across Kenshin's lips. The look in his eyes softened as he looked her over. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she strolled along side the red haired young man down the small avenue.

"Akiko-san," Kenshin almost whispered, "why is it that Nitta-san dislikes this one?"

The young lady looked up at him as the walked a while in silence. It was true that over the last month that Kenshin had been awake, Kuniko had begun to grow more and more impatient with him for no reason. More often then naught, she had hinted for him to leave before he 'became too homely'. "She just doesn't like anyone who gets close to me," she finally answered. "My father was Kuniko-san's danna since before I was born. Ever since my mother died, she took care of me like I was her child. She is a mother to me. Even though she has always been very busy in her profession, she always managed to spend some time with me while I was growing up. After my father passed away, she insisted that the best thing for me is to become a geisha so as not to end up in a brothel." She sighed as she looked up at the brilliant blue sky, smiling to herself.

Kenshin glanced over at the young woman walking next to him and smiled. Now it made scenes to him as to why she didn't once raise her voice to the geisha, even when being insulted by the older woman.

The two continued walk along the stone avenue. Their trip to the city was a long one, due to the fact that Kenshin had to sit down many times on their way to rest his ankle.

The streets in Nara were bursting with activity. Merchants from all across Japan sold all sorts of items in their little stands. Every kind of exquisite article and food was put on exhibition for all who came to the vending stands. As they walked along, the two came upon a small stand selling magazines, ukiyo-e prints, and newspapers. Kenshin's eyes widened as he took up one of the newspapers. "Another attempt at the life of Okubo Toshimichi has failed..." His light violet blue eyes quickly skimmed through the lines that followed the headline. He gave the vender a quick glance, whom in turn was eyeing him with the same inquisitive manner. His eyes returned to the newspaper as his mind began to search for a reasonable answer to what he was reading. Ever since he had woken up, he was sure that the assault from the Shinsengumi group had succeeded in killing Okubo. He knew for certain that Okubo had died because he had seen it with his own eyes.

"What's the matter Kenshin-san?" Akiko looked over at him carefully placing down an ukiyo-e print.

"Nothing..." he responded as he paid the vender for the newspaper.

"Look," Akiko walked over to the stand right next to them. The young man behind the table looked up at her with a smile and offered the young lady a peach from his fresh fruits and vegetables he had on display. She declined the offer reaching for the basket full of cherries. "These cherries look delicious", she commented as she chose out the best ones. "Would you like some Kenshin-san?"

"No thank you, they have never settled well with me before", he folded the newspaper in half. He watched as she continued to pick the ripest cherries in the small basket. Her slender fingers carefully examined each cherry, turning the small fruit over and over again before either placing it onto a thin sheet of rice paper or back into the basket from which it came. She handed the small handful of cherries to the vender.

"Wouldn't you like to buy anything else ma'am," he began, "I sell the freshest fruits and vegetables around."

"I don't have enough for more", she smiled bashfully as she reached into her obi for her silk purse.

"Chose some more Akiko-san," Kenshin reached into his sleeve. "This is all this one has left", he said warmly handing the vender a few coins. Akiko watched as Kenshin handed the vender the last of the money he possessed. The last coins that Kogoro Katsura had given him nearly three and a half months ago before leaving to Osaka to escort Okubo.

The vender waited patiently as the young lady chose another handful worth of cherries.

"Have a nice day", he smiled as the two left the stand.

Kenshin watched from the corner of his eye as Akiko popped two cherries into her mouth. Her tender lips curved into an almost mischievous, child like smile. "You like them a lot, don't you?" he inquired as they continued their walk down the busy streets.

"Yes," she brought another cherry to her mouth, "they're very good." Again, the young lady offered her guest a cherry and again he declined.

--

Akiko led Kenshin to a temple. The sheer size of it was overwhelming. The gardens, rich in greens, reds, and pinks, had begun to show spots of browns and yellows as the fall season was rapidly approaching. Stone pathways wound there way around an orchard and a coy pound before leading to the main hall in the center of the temple grounds.

The main hall of the temple was build entirely out of wood, painted brightly in gold and red. As he followed Akiko into the temple hall, Kenshin gazed up at two enormous warrior statues on each side of the entryway. Both soldiers were heavily armed with a menacing looks etched into their cold stone faces, each with two swords mounted at their sides. They held spears with copper points in one hand and helmets with elaborate designs on them in the other. Their amour they wore was lavishly decorated and painted with scenes of a battle. _The guards that protect Buddha_, he thought to himself as he slowly made his way past the people leaving the temple hall.

On the far end of the hall sat the largest Buddha that he had ever seen in his life. The Buddha was made entirely out of bronze, his cloths coated in gold and painted with dark hues of reds and blues. At the base, the Buddha was surrounded in the faint smoke left behind by the number of burning incenses, giving it a mysterious and dream-like feel to it. Kenshin sighed to himself as he looked up at the Buddha's face. The care free smile molded on its rounded face made it look like it didn't have the slightest idea that a bloody war was occurring just outside the temple gates. To him, it seemed like the Buddha was frozen in time, unaware of the ever changing world outside the hall.

Akiko lit two incenses. Carefully placing them with the numerous amounts of incenses already there she lowered her head, placing her hands together and continued to pray. Kenshin stood at a distance watching her. Her mother had died giving birth to her and her father had passed away nearly two years earlier. A samurai who had fought for Emperor Tokugawa, he had died in one of the first outbursts that had occurred in Kyoto at the beginning of the Revolution. A sadden expression crossed his face. He began to wonder who had killed Akiko's father, more importantly, if he personally knew the killer. A sickening feeling began to grow within his stomach at the thought. To occupy his mind he began to look around the hall, taking in every detail he could. His eyes soon began to wonder to the ceiling. The huge beams overhead were painted richly in red and the ceiling stretched far above into the padonga, or tower as the foreigners called it. Never in his life had he felt so tiny or troubled.

--

Akiko hung on the slanted roof of the two small adjoined rooms while Kenshin stood laughing in the walled off garden below at the sight.

"How could you be so mean like that!" Her bottom half dangled in the air as she held on to the blue tiled roof. Now she regretted ever climbing up with him to view the night sky.

"Just let go," Kenshin repeated himself again, "you will not fall, this one will catch you." A mischievous smile stretched from one end of his face to the other as he watched Akiko clutch onto the roof even harder then before. For the last ten minutes he had been trying to convince her to let herself fall so that he could catch her, but instead she held on even more tightly to the roof.

She turned her head enough for Kenshin to get a look at her. With her arms outstretched before her, a worried look crept onto her small rounded face. "You're all the way over there!" she exclaimed, "how are you supposed to catch me if your all the way over there!"

Kenshin couldn't help himself from laughing out loud again as she gave him a worried look. He watched as she kicked the air with frustration. "My apologies," he began, "it's just that..."

"Don't talk!" she yelled, "you've done enough already!" After a moment of silence and a little kicking she looked over her shoulder again. "Aren't you going to come any closer?" she asked. Kenshin stood looking up at her, embarrassed at the suggestion. Even in the dim moon light she was able to see his face turn a bright red. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him stand where he was not moving a muscle. Again she kicked. "I won't let go unless you get closer!"

"Akiko-san," he began to explain as he brought one hand up to his face, "If this one gets any closer, he'll be able to see up your kimono."

Akiko's face flushed a bright red with embarrassment. The thought had never crossed her mind. "Don't you dare!" she yelled.

Kenshin looked around the dark walled off yard as he listened to a few dogs bark in the distance. "Akiko-san, you're going to wake up everyone in the neighborhood if you keep yelling like that."

"It's not a very populated area!" she yelled. Her arms were growing tired now. She shuffled her weight a little to keep herself from falling. Again, Kenshin laughed at her determination to not let go. Finally, he began walking up to the small veranda on the back of the house. Akiko sung her foot, throwing her zori at him as he approached. "Stay away!"

The tiny straw zori hit his head. After picking up the small shoe he continued to make his way to the veranda, being careful to keep his eyes down. Placing the zori at the entrance of his room, he climbed up to the engawa, again careful not to look up. By now, Akiko was kicking wildly.

Standing on the engawa, her knees came down to about his head. He reached out in front of him and took a firm grip on her legs as she continued to kick to calm her down, but instead only got her to kick harder and shriek. He let go taking a step back. Patiently he waited until she stopped.

"What are you doing Kenshin-san?" her voice came nervously.

Reaching up, he placed his hands on her waist, again she kicked. This time her knee struck his face. He took a step back with his hands to his face. The force of her knee striking his nose sent a stinging sensation throughout his body as tears swelled up in his eyes. Quickly he examined his hands. He sighed with relief as he realized that her blow wasn't enough to give him a nose bleed, although the thought of having Akiko's bottom half dangling in front of him almost did.

"Akiko-san, do you not wish to be helped down?" He waited to see her reaction as he continued to rub his nose. Nothing happened. "This one is going to help you down again," he warned her, "if you kick once more, you will hang there the rest of the night."

"Fine!" she answered, "but if you as so much dare to do anything to me, I'll beat you blue and black with the shamisen if I must!"

Kenshin laughed to himself at the thought of being beaten with a musical instrument. Once more he placed his hands on her waist. This time she only twitched, keeping herself from kicking him. "Now let go." She continued to hang from the roof for a while. "Akiko-san," he began, "if you don't let go..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Akiko gave a small shriek and fell. Not expecting her to let go, Kenshin instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist as she literally fell through his arms. He tired hard to prevent himself from losing his balance and falling over, but was caught completely off guard and began falling forwards with the young woman's weight. In the mist of the fall he managed to turn himself enough so that he would hit the floor first. The two hit the cold earth with a loud "thud".

Kenshin opened his eyes to the sight of Akiko's breast in his face. He felt his face burn hot. Closing his eyes tightly he waited until he felt the young woman crawl off him. He let out a long sigh as he opened his eyes again. Akiko sat quietly beside him with her head down.

"Thank you Ken-san" she whispered softly.

Without uttering a word, Kenshin reached over placing his hands on her cheeks as he leaned over to kiss her. His lips were so soft and trembled as he pulled away. Akiko gazed at him in surprise. It was obvious by the look on her face that she didn't expect anything more then a simple "your welcomed" from him. Her face was clearly flushed as her widened dark brown eyes remained fixed on the young man. Her hands began to tremble as she clutched on to her kimono while sitting quietly on the cold ground. She quickly averted her eyes to the ground when she noticed the soft, almost longing look in his. With her head still low, she watched from the corner of her eye as Kenshin got up and dusted himself off. Her thoughts raced furiously in her mind before a hand appeared in front her. A warm smile was deeply implanted on to Kenshin's face as he offered to help the young lady up. "This one is glad to see that you are not hurt," he whispered. Hesitating, she placed her trembling hand in his and was quickly lifted from the floor.

"Thank you," she stammered sheepishly as their eyes locked onto one another.

His smile grew as he continued to eye the young lady. "It's getting pretty late," his voice came softly, "we should go inside."

---  
A/N: Well, that was fun. I fixed historical error here that was pointed out by Heddy. Thanks a bunch dude for that lil pointing out.


	8. In A Year's Time

Disclaimer: All hail Nobuhiro Watsuki for making such a great story. In other words, Rurouni Kenshin isn't my story.

_**Chapter 8:**  
In A Year's Time_

Cling.

The crisp sound of two swords clashing chimed in the dark, mid-autumn night.

_"I know that you are a hitokiri... an assassin,_" Akiko's soft voice echoed through Kenshin's mind.

"AHHHH!" The pricing cry of a man screaming in pain echoed in the narrow side streets as the full moon shone over the ancient city of Kyoto.

_"Do you enjoy taking the lives of others?"_

Kenshin watched the bloodied man on the floor for a moment. It had been nearly five months since the scent of blood filled the air around him so heavily. Up until now, he had never noticed how much he detested the smell. The man on the floor continued to mutter something with his last breaths as he tried to reach out to one of the swords that lay only inches from his hand. Even if he could not yield the weapon he was reaching for, Kenshin knew that this man would not die without a fight.

"Not the in the least..." he responded softly as he gave the man one last sad look.

_"Then why do you want to return to Kyoto?"_

"There are people that must be protected..." The young assassin grasped the hilt of his sword with both hands, angling the blade downward as he stood over his fallen victim. The man on the ground continued to murmur something between the gargling sounds he made as blood dripped from the pool that had formed in his mouth. The red haired hitokiri shut his eyes tightly as he thrust his weapon with all his might into the back of the man's head.

_"You are not protecting. You are killing to let others have their ways."_

Silence.

The young man opened his eyes again, still leaning on his weapon. He looked down at the now dead man. The blood that poured from the dead man's head crept between the small cracks of the stone paved street, seeping into the earth below. "Men will never change their way of thinking," he looked up at the three other fallen men on the cold earth, "only by eliminating those who oppress will others have the chance to live better lives under a new government." Kenshin drew his sword back. He watched as a few drops of blood splattered on the cold ground, dripping from the tip of his weapon. He reached into the sleeve of his kimono and took a few sheets of thick rice paper. Slowly he wiped clean his sword as he continued to look around. "This is the only way this one can protect those who will bring about that new government."

After returning his sword into its sheath, the young assassin pinned a sheet of paper with one of the fallen men's bloody swords to a nearby wall, a simple note stating that the Chôshû clan claimed the lives of these men. Kenshin looked back at the fallen men one last time before trotting away and disappearing into the shadows. The bodies would not be found until the sun rose the next day.

--

Three months passed and the winter season finally arrived in Kyoto. Snow had lightly fallen over the last month and a half, blanketing the city in a thin but bitterly cold layer of snow. Kenshin sat leaning against one of the beams of the veranda that lead from the sleeping quarters to the main hall of the old inn he and his comrades now occupied as a home. It had been five nights since he had last slain a man and the sickening feeling he would normally get in his stomach still lingered. His violet blue eyes scanned the winter sky aimlessly in the late night hours to distract his mind from this guilty feeling he had. Tiny puffs of white frosted air formed with each breathe he took. The small garden before him had been blanketed with snow and now glowed an almost ghostly white tone under the moon's soft light. "Akiko..." he whispered to himself.

His eyes slid close as he tugged on the blanket around his shoulders. The faint, moist sent of the earth reminded him of the cherry blossom perfume that Kuniko had given Akiko well before his arrival. Every day she had delicately placed a drop or two of that perfume on her jaw just below and behind her ears. He had never really noticed that sent until that late summer night when his lips were eagerly pressed onto her soft skin. The velvety soft feel of her skin under his hands had been enticing.

Kenshin let out a heavy and long sigh. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of having Akiko with him again. He had left Nara nearly four months ago, and he had longed every day be with her again. Yet he knew that he couldn't. He didn't want to put her in any danger. He knew full well that groups fighting for the Shogunate were ruthless in their ways. They had already slain entire families and anyone else who was associated to a revolutionary in order to "send a message" to their enemies that they will take any and all means necessary to counter any revolutionary.

"Is something the matter Himura-san?" the familiar voice of Kogoro Katsura came from across the tiny snow covered garden. Startled, the young man looked up and across the yard to where the leader of the Chôshû clan stood. His dark blue kimono was wrapped tightly around him as he tugged on a much thicker looking jacket. Even in the late hours of the night his hair was still neatly brushed back, with the exception of a few strands that fell carelessly over his eyes. His dark brown eyes were locked onto the young red-haired man.

"It's nothing Kogoro-san," Kenshin forced a smile.

Silently, Katsura made his way to the young man. The snow made a soft crunching sound with every step the man took. He carefully tucked his kimono under him as he sat down next to the youth. "Akiko," he said as he looked up at the moon hanging low in the night sky. Kenshin's eyes widened as the feeling of his blood running cold in his veins came and went. "That is the name that you have whispered to yourself, is it not?" he questioned turning his attention to the young man.

Kenshin sat bewildered at the question set before him. His lips slightly moved, but his mouth was unable to form words. His violet eyes examined every feature on the face of his elder as the astonished look on his own face began to slowly diminish. "Yes," he finally managed to say.

"May I ask who she is?"

The young man hesitated for a moment. "She is the young woman who took care of this one while he was injured."

"I see," Katsura's breath made a single puff in the chilled air. "It seems like you have taken a liking to her while you were injured... am I not right?"

Kenshin's cheeks flushed red as he solemnly nodded. The two sat quietly for a moment in the frigate night air. "How did you know?" Kenshin's timid voice finally broke the silence.

A smile curved Katsura's lips. "I have overheard you speak that name more then once Kenshin-san... especially when you are deep in thought." Silence filled the air once again as the two sat waiting for the other to speak again. "Will you ever return to see her?"

Again the young man sighed heavily. "That can't be done," he said sorrowfully, "this one wishes no harm to come to her. It is too dangerous for her to even know me."

"I see," Katsura looked down at the young man thoughtfully.

"But, this one does wish to see her once this is all over." A slight, hopeful smile crossed the young man's features and then vanished as fast as it had come.

Katsura's attention returned to the half moon that was beginning to set. He too was well aware of the dangers that fell onto any person associated with a revolutionary. He sat deep in thought at the situation at hand. Himura Kenshin was the best assassin he had at his side and it was thanks to this young man that he and many other were still alive. Yet, it seemed that too much was expected of this youth and he in return had gone through great pains to meet those expectations. "If you wish, Ken-san," his voice came sympathetically, "you may leave this place to go to her."

The young man looked up surprised. "But..."

"It is the very least I can offer after having have used you as bait in such a vicious way." The young hitokiri looked up at his elder. After having retuned to Kyoto in mid September, he had learned that he and his fellow comrades had been used as decoys in their mission earlier that year. The man they had been escorting from Osaka was not Okubo Tochimichi, but rather a follower of his.

With the help of his childhood friend, Saigo Takamori and Tochimichi had gathered enough intelligence suggesting that the Shinsengumi were well aware of his travel to Kyoto. Fearing an assassination attempt on Tochimichi's life, the two decided last minute to send out a decoy with Katsura's group.

"That does not matter... this one's duty is to protect you, my fellow swordsmen, and anyone else you deem important to the future of this country."

"The question is, do you really wish to sacrifice your personal happiness for the sake of others'?"

Kenshin looked down at the snow below his feet. He did wish to help others by all means necessary, after all, that was the reason he had left his master's side nearly two years earlier. He truly did believe that he could make a great change in this world and wanted to. But at the same time his heart ached with each passing day to return to Akiko's side.

"The offer will stand," Katsura patted the young man's shoulder, "you may leave whenever you wish to." The red haired youth watched as his elder rose and made his way across the snow covered garden. Katsura's head hung low as he tugged at his jacket again. He stopped briefly before entering the building where he slept and looked over at the young man. A warm looking smile crossed his face as he nodded to the young man before he finally disappeared from sight.

Kenshin continued to sit the rest of night on the veranda. He wondered if he could really just leave behind all the fighting that he had token up in order to be with Akiko. His strong feelings for both the young woman and his choice of helping create a better world lingered in his mind as snow began to fall in the early morning hours. With one final sigh, the young man got up from his place and made his way to his room as the sky began to glow a faint blue in the distance.

--

The blazing hot summer air was thick with the sent of moist earth. A slight drizzle had fallen only hours ago before the sun rose from behind the eastern mountains. The birds in the area chirped loudly as wagons and other travelers made their way past a young man. The young man of about seventeen years of age casually walked along the road that lead from Kyoto to Nara. Even though he did not live in the surrounding region he was very familiar with his surroundings. It had been these same forested areas that he had once taken long walks through only a year ago. A deep smile crossed the young red haired man's lips as he came to the final bend of the road. Below him lay the city of Nara, nestled quietly in thick forests and high mountains. It had taken him all night and probably a scowling by Saigo when he returned to Kyoto, but he finally made it to Nara.

Kenshin walked down the familiar avenues at the edge of the city. Although he got lost a few times, he finally managed to find his way to the small farmhouse that he had occupied only a year earlier. He knocked on the wooden door of the home.

"Yes?" the door slid open a crack. From behind the door a pair of brown eyes widened as they looked at the young man standing outside. "Kenshin!" Akiko gasped as she slid the door completely open.

"WHO!" a voice shrieked inside the house.

The young man looked over past Akiko. Kuniko was sitting at the small table near the center of the room as her maid fanned some air in her mistress's direction. Both their jaws hung wide open as they looked at the young man standing outside.

"Good morning," Kenshin bowed slighted in their direction as he entered the house.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Kuniko stood up furiously. The young maid fell back looking up at her mistress in surprise.

Without a moment's warning, the geisha took hold of the kettle sitting on the table and threw it with all her might at the young man. Instinctively, Kenshin brought his hands before him and caught the object. His fingers had barely begun to wrap themselves around the kettle before a stinging sensation raced through his hands. "AGGHHH!" he exclaimed releasing it. The steaming hot kettle fell to the floor, splashing the hot tea all over his feet. He began to blow at his hands as the burning feeling continued to tingle.

"Kuniko-san!" Akiko yelled surprised at the woman's actions.

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

Kenshin looked up in time to see a tea cup crossing the room in his direction. Again, he caught the flying object, stepping back as the tea fell out of it and onto the tatami matted floor. "Orrooo...?" he looked over at the young maid with a baffled expression only to receive what looked to be a mixture of pity and despair from the young girl. A question began to leave his lips as he looked back at Kuniko, but he was cut off as the geisha threw another cup at him. Again, he caught the cup. Quickly placing the two cups on the floor near his feet he raced over to Kuniko as she reached over the table and took a third cup in her hands. Before she was able to throw the item in her hands at him, the young hitokiri took a firm grip on her hand, forcing the cup out of her grasp.

"UNHAND ME!" she slapped him. The sharp sound of her hand connecting on the young man's face made both Akiko and the young maid jump.

Kenshin stepped back a few steps placing his hand on the side of his bewildered face. He watched as Kuniko searched her surroundings to find another object to hurl in his direction, but found nothing.

"Kuniko-san!" Akiko yelled, "what is wrong with you?"

Kuniko glanced over at the young girl then at the assassin again, giving him a death glare. He returned her gaze taken aback at the sudden situation. Sure Kuniko had not liked him from the beginning, but he had always been well mannered and proper when addressing her. Never once had he done anything to insult her, or at least he couldn't recall anything out of place.

"It's all his fault," she hissed between her teeth still glaring at the confused young man. "I swear I'll kill him. He ruined it all. Everything!"

Akiko looked at her friend a bit puzzled. "I told you already," she began timidly, "I will not be told what to do in my life."

"Oro..." Kenshin began, "What has this one done to upset you so, Nitta-san?"

Kuniko glared at him once more. Her white painted face scrunched up with anger. The red eye shadow on the outermost part of the woman's eyes helped make the illusion that her eyes were glowing red with rage. "Are you stupid or do you just act it!" Kenshin narrowed his eyes at her as she continued to yell at him. "You make yourself all homely for a few months and then take off like nothing ever happened! Then you dare to show your face after a year! A WHOLE YEAR!"

"Kuniko..." Akiko said in an almost whisper, "maybe you should go. It is getting late and you have to work tonight..."

Kuniko turned to Akiko. "And leave you with that?" she pointed at dumbstruck young man. "NEVER AGAIN!"

The four occupants of the room remained silent as the buzzing sound of insects from the woods behind the small house grew louder. Soon, a completely different sound filled the air. The cries of an infant directed their attention to Akiko's room. The fusuma and shôji doors to her room were wide open, letting air circulate through the house. Kenshin was taken aback as he realized that Akiko's futon was still laying spread out on the floor. Akiko wasn't one to leave her room in the morning without tiding it up. Soon, his eyes fell on to a small bundle laying in the middle of the futon. A small infant began to wave its hands in the air as it continued to cry. Before he could question about the small child, Akiko rushed past the group and into her room. Kneeling down on her futon she carefully took the child in her arms.

"It's alright," Akiko rocked the child back and forth gently in her arms. Kenshin continued to watch from his place.

"Are you happy with what you have done?" Kuniko's ice cold voice came from the young man's left. Kenshin glanced over at the geisha with his jaw slightly opened as she strolled up to him. An evil smirk on her blood red lips caused his eyes to widen. He stared at her confused. He watched as her eyes left him and settled on Akiko. Unconsciously, he followed her gaze onto the young woman. His violet blue eyes widened as he stared at the child's hair. At first glance, the infant's hair looked to be a dark brown, but as he continued to stare he soon realized it to be a very dark red hue.

"She had completely given up hope that you would return," her voice suddenly became sweeter with each word spoken. "She was going to begin her training as a maiko in only a few more weeks." Her right hand reached up and gently touched the young man's left check. A sudden rush of fear consumed the young man. His violet blue eyes widened even more as he took a step back. Kenshin immediately began to question himself why he was beginning to feel this sudden fear towards this woman. Her slender fingers continued to reach out until they finally touched his face again. Slowly her finger tips followed the cross shaped scare from nearly his chin up to the side of his left eye. "She was going to do all of this for the sake of her daughter," her hand lightly tucked the array of flowing red hair behind the young man's ear. "For your daughter!" her eyes narrowed angrily on the young man as she took a firm grip on his ear, pulling it downward.

Kenshin felt a rush of pain flow over the left side of his face as the geisha twisted and pulled downward on his ear. He clasped his hands on the woman's wrist and tried to pry himself free without hurting her, but was unable to. He grinded his teeth in pain as she continued to twist his ear, forcing him down to his knees.

"Kuniko-san!" Akiko called from her room.

The geisha glanced over at the young woman, her dark brown eyes settling on the young woman holding her infant child before returning to the young hitokiri at her feet. Once more she smiled wickedly as she bent over the young man. "Next time you decide to leave, make sure you never return," she whispered menacingly. In an instant, she released the young assassin's ear and made her way to the door, her maid at her heels. "I will be waiting for you in two weeks, Akiko Dear," she looked up one last time, "remember, you need a successful job that will secure your child's life now." With those last words, Kuniko and her maid disappeared from sight as the front door was slid close.

Kenshin sat on the tatami mats rubbing his ear. His eyes narrowed angrily at the now closed door before he directed his attention back to Akiko. The young woman jumped back as the hitokiri glanced at him. Her lips slightly curled into an uneasy smile as she continued to rock the child in her arms. "Umm..." she began stammering, "I really didn't think you'd ever come back..." She looked down the infant in her arms. He continued to watch in silence as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Kuniko-san was right... I could never care for a child with the earnings of a waitress... much less when they don't need me and will fire me whenever they please..."

Without realizing it, Kenshin got up from his place and made his way to Akiko. His heart pounded in his chest as he wrapped his arms around the young woman and the child. In the little over a year that he had stayed away from Nara, it had never crossed his mind that he had fathered a child. "If this one would have known..." his trailed off softly.

"I wanted so much to tell you," she buried her face in his shoulder, "but I had no idea where to look for you." A few tears began to flow down her cheeks and onto the young man's gii. "I'm so happy that you came back..."

Kenshin looked down at the small child in Akiko's arms. "Her name is Sakura," Akiko whispered.

----  
A/N: Hurray! I uploaded two chapters in one day! You must all be happy to get so much to read. Now that I think about it, you guys (including myself) probably don't read many books and stuff like that. The only reading we're probably getting is off the internet, fanfics and research stuff hu? Well, at least I'm stimulating you guys' brains a lil, so this isn't a total waste of time as my mother has said. ENJOY!


	9. Decisions

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the character that belong to the story. Let us all repeat, "Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro."

_**Chapter 9:  
**Decisions_

Akiko continued to pluck the three strings of her shamisen with great precision as she sat on the engawa at the back of the house. The melody she was playing was already familiar to Kenshin, who sat at the opposite end of the narrow veranda, gently fanning air at sleeping infant that lay next to him.

She stopped abruptly and gazed at him. Her brown eyes sadden as they began to water. "When are you leaving?" she asked gloomily.

There was a moment of silence as the blazing afternoon continued to drag on. The buzzing sound of insects filled the hot summer air momentarily before he spoke. "Within the next few days," he answered not looking up.

The young woman picked at one of the cords on her instrument. The crisp sound of the single note echoed in the walled off garden as the two remained silent. Again, she struck the shamisen with her pick. "Please don't go..." she murmured as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Kenshin looked up at the young lady. Her head hung low as she brought her slender hands up to her face. Soon, he was able to hear her tiny sobs as she began to cry. "What if you are killed... like Kuniko-san has said before," she finally raised her head. "I don't want you to die Kenshin. I don't want to be left alone again..."

The red haired young man forced a smile as he continued to fan his daughter. "Rest assure, this one will not be killed so easily and promises to return." Akiko looked out at the walled off yard, her eyes still full of sorrow and discontent. She remained silent as the two continued to sit quietly. Her features began to twist into an ever sadder look. A guilty feeling began to grow in the young hitokiri's stomach as he watched the young lady continue to stare aimlessly into space. It was just as painful for him to leave her as it was for her to wait for him.

"The next time this one returns," Kenshin began slowly as he looked down at his daughter, "he promises to never leave again." Akiko turned suddenly, her eyes locked onto young man. His head hung low as he continued to fan the infant. "Hopefully, the worst is over and they will not require my services any longer..." he trailed off.

--

Kenshin wiped the blood from his sword before placing it back into its sheath again. Without any hesitation, the young man quickly left the small alley and made his way to closest busy avenue he could find. Judging by the small commotion that the two swordsmen had made, it wouldn't take long for someone to find the dead body lying in the alley.

The young man sighed as continued on his way down the street. He didn't want to be there. He was beginning to loath it. He wanted so desperately to get away. To go back. Back to Akiko's small, peaceful home and as far away from this bloody city as he could. He was beginning to regret ever returning to Kyoto. But at the same time, he felt he had an obligation to at least say good bye to Kogoro Katsura in person and wish him well during these times of unrest.

However, when he returned to Kyoto he discovered that Katsura had gone missing. No one had seen him or even knew about his whereabouts. Some of the revolutionists were even beginning to suspect that Katsura had become a coward and run away from the battle. Of course, Kenshin knew that this couldn't be true. Not of a man who was passionate about bringing down a two hundred year old government in order to bring new order and hope to the people of Japan. Katsura was still around somewhere and would make his grand appearance soon.

"Himura-kun," a voice softly reached the young man's ears.

The young hitokiri turned to the source of the voice. His eyes quickly fell onto a man sitting on a small bench, eating dumplings on a street side shop. Their eyes meet as the man looked up. A look of surprise crossed the young man's face. "Katsura-san!"

Katsura got up from his place and paid for his meal. Without uttering another word, he gestured for the young man to follow him. The two made their way into a small alley between two homes. Now was his chance, he could finally tell Katsura that he wanted to leave and never return. His mind was made up. There was no one who could talk him otherwise.

"Where is it that your Akiko lives?"

The young man froze in his place. Katsura wasn't one who pried into other's lives. The only times he did go out of his way to look into other's affairs was when he suspected them of selling information to his enemies.

The older man sighed. "There are rumors that the Hitokiri Battousai has someone waiting for him in either Osaka or a small village near Nara," he spoke without hesitation. "I don't know where these rumors originated from. What I do know is that it hasn't been said who it is that you visit or where she lives. My best guess is that no one knows for sure... yet."

Kenshin felt as if his heart was going to leap out of his throat. Someone had found out that Akiko was waiting for him. He had to do something fast. The young man was about to leave running when he felt a hand settle on his shoulder.

The older man reached down and took his hand. Placing a small bundle in to his hand he said, "Take this and never come back. I suggest that you leave where ever it is that Akiko-chan lives and find yourselves a new home." The young man nodded. "Take care of yourself, Kenshin."

"Thank you," Kenshin said placing the small bundle of money into his sleeve. "Good-bye, Katsura-san. And good luck." Without uttering another word, the young man turned and raced out of the small alley, quickly disappearing from sight.

--

Kenshin raced down the back alleyways of the merchant distract in the late afternoon. His heart pounded in his chest as the thought of someone having found out that Akiko awaited him in Nara continued to sink into his mind. He mentally cursed himself for having been so careless as to actually have had someone follow him when on his trips to visit the young woman. He had to make it in time or else... He forced these last few thoughts aside. It didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he make it to Nara before anyone else. Time was against him, he had to make it back to Nara tonight. A sharp pain tore through his heart at the thought of what might happen if he weren't to arrive in time. At least the fact that it wasn't known who or where the one that he visited lived gave him more hope.

The young assassin gasped for air as he reached the outskirts of Kyoto. A small pain was beginning to grow at his side from the non-stop running. There was no way he could possibly run all the way to Nara and make it on time to save Akiko. Determined, he continued to trot along the familiar road that led southward as the pain in his side increased. A nauseous feeling began to grow within him at the idea that he wasn't going to make it. Again, he forced the thought out of his mind.

Kenshin slowed his pace to almost a walk. His breath came heavily as he looked around helplessly. His violet blue eyes quickly fell onto a small farmhouse only a few meters away. For a moment he watches as field workers loaded sacks of rice onto a cart hitched to a horse in the early evening hours. Taking in a deep breath, he darted one last time in their direction. The workers greeted the young man with a look of surprise as he made his way past them. Unsheathing one of his swords, the young hitokiri cut the reigns that attached the horse to the cart. In a fluent movement, he mounted the horse, striking its back with the flat of the sword. He shrugged off the profanities being yelled at him by the farmers as he rode off. Now he had a chance to make it to Nara before the sun rose again.

--

The mid-autumn night air was chilled. The sound of pounding hooves on the old wood bridge rang loudly as Kenshin finally rode into Nara. A few more blocks and he would finally be at Akiko's house. A sense of overwhelming relief filled the young man as the small, worn down farmhouse finally came into view. Swinging his leg over the horse, he jumped as he finally reached his destination. Giving his surroundings a quick glance, he raced to the front door.

"Akiko-san!" he pounded on the wooden door. A few dogs began to bark in the run down neighborhood. He waited for what seemed to be an eternity before knocking on the door again. Nothing. Finally growing impatient, the young man eagerly made his way to the side of the house. Reaching up to the top of the wall, he heaved himself into the small garden on the other side.

"Akiko-san..." he knocked on the shôji of her room, "Akiko-san, you have to get up now!" He waited for a response, but heard nothing. He felt a wave of anguish wash over him as continued to wait for a response. Without a second thought he opened the shôji. The faint moonlight washed the floor with an eerie glow as he scanned the room taken aback. Akiko's futon was still folded up in the corner near the door to the front room. He stood on the board walkway for a moment, thinking. "Nitta-san..." he thought out loud, "she could be with Nitta-san."

As he turned to leave, a tiny glow on the other side of the shôji leading to the main room of the house caught his attention. It was so faint that he was barely able to make it out through the paper-like door. "Could Akiko-san have left the fire going?" he questioned himself. The young man turned to leave, but there was something that drew him to the fire on the other side of the door. Somehow, he felt that he had to go into the next room before he left. Slowly, he crossed the room and opened the light framed door.

His eyes grew wide at the sight before him. In the low light produced by the dieing fire in the pit and the faint moonlight that entered from behind him, the young man made out the silhouette of a body hanging over the fire pit. His eyes began to fill with tears as he quickly recognized the body to be Akiko. The bottom of her purple kimono was blackened by the smoke produced by the dieing fire. Her right hand was held up to her neck by her fingers, which were caught between the thick rope and her neck. The braid that she normally sported and bow of her obi were half undone, a clear sign that she had struggled to the bitter end. Her eyes were slightly opened, staring aimlessly at nothing and void of life. Her face drained of color.

Kenshin averted his eyes to the floor as the sudden sensation of wanting to vomit consumed

him. He clasped his hands over his mouth as he took a step back into Akiko's room. The tears in his eyes began to stream down his face uncontrollably as he felt his legs grow weak. Taking in deep breaths to calm himself down, he finally managed to reenter the room. He quickly cut the young woman's body down from the ceiling. Her body was already cold and rigid. She had been dead for a number of hours now.

"Sakura..." he gasped as he realized that the toddler was no where to be seen. Carefully laying the lifeless body on the floor, he began a desperate search for the baby girl. His heart pounded louder in his chest at every passing minute of his search. "Sakura-chan!" he called as he raced outside and took a look under the house, but was confronted by nothing. Slowly, the realization that his daughter was missing finally began to sink in.

Kenshin returned to Akiko. He would spend the rest of the night holding the young woman's lifeless body in his arms as he sat leaning against the wall. It was all hopeless now.

--

"We can't just sit here and let them have their ways," Goranu looked up at Katsura.

"For the time being, we can't do anything. We are greatly outnumbered," Katsura brought up his cup of tea. "Rather then rushing into a battle blindly, we must think of a way to counter their attacks."

Goranu frowned as he watched his leader peacefully sip his tea. Everything was beginning to fall apart. All groups that supported the Shogun had become merciless these last few days. They were desperate and everyone knew it. Their restlessness had made every river in Kyoto run red with blood everyday.

"The shipment of armaments will not arrive 'til a few days time," spoke a man with a heavy accent. Goranu looked up at the foreigner. His Japanese was still hard to understand but nonetheless his speech was clearer then any other foreigner he had yet to meet. Thomas B. Glover, an English arms dealer from Nagasaki, sat quietly for a moment. His sea blue eyes locked themselves onto Katsura, waiting for a response. "However," he continued, "even if they do arrive at Nagasaki within the next few days, it will take another week or so to transport all the guns and ammunition to Kyoto."

"I see..." Katsura finally responded looking down at his green tea.

"What of the Shinsengumi?" Okubo questioned as he set down his pipe.

The ten men in the room remained silent. For the last month the Shinsengumi had followed through every lead they had gathered about the whereabouts of all who opposed to the Shogunate, leading to some of the bloodiest confrontations that the revolution had yet seen. The battles on both sides of the war had grown to become so desperate that even Hitokiri Kawakami's mid-day slaying of the great idealist Sakuma Shôzan had sent a wave of shock to everyone involved.

The shôji door slid open. Without greeting the people assembled in the room, Kenshin solemnly made his way to an empty cushion next to Katsura. All eyes stared at the young man as he took his place to Katsura's left. They watched in astonishment as the young hitokiri took the two swords from his side and slowly placed them on the floor at his side, never once looking up nor speaking from the moment he entered.

"Himura-san..." Katsura began to question but was interrupted.

"This one is here to stay until the battles are over," the young man's stern, but low voice came. The men continued to stare at the young hitokiri for a while. He had been missing for nearly a month now. All were sure that he would never return, that they had lost their best bodyguard and assassin. Now, they all eyed the young man guessingly.

Sensing the young man's disposition of wanting to be left alone, Katsura continued the debate at hand. He would later have a word with the young hitokiri.

------

A/N: Well, its taken me a long enough time to update this. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about this fic and My computer had broken down and I was having a ton of catching up to do at school that I just simply forgot about even writing the fanfic. Some author I am, ne?

Anywho, I'm working on this and hopefully will be updating this fic on a more periodic basis. Oh yes, thanks to Heddy for correcting my historical inaccuracy in the previous chapter, it has now been fixed. So enjoy


	10. Rurouni

Disclaimer: Watsuki Nobuhiro... All hail Watsuki Nobuhiro for creating Rurouni Kenshin. Such a sad story.

_**Chapter 10:**  
Rurouni_

Kenshin leaned over the railing of a wooden bridge. He watched in despair as the water flowed calmly underneath. It looked so peaceful and smooth, the complete opposite of the city of Kyoto. Kyoto, with its bloodied streets and constant fighting was in the mist of its most important change in all of history. The Chôshû and Satsuma clans had managed to strike a bargain and were now allies in this unforgiving battle to over throw the Shogun Tokugawa. Fighting on both sides of this war had become brutal enough to scare many of the city's residents from leaving their homes.

The young hitokiri continued to watch the flow of the river silently. "Yodo River..." he softly whispered to himself. The aching feeling in the young man's heart continued to throb as the warm morning progressed. How long had it been since this very river had landed him on the banks of the city of Uji? Landed him right in front of Akiko.

Akiko.

His entire face saddened as he began remembering the young woman. Her warm, forgiving smile. Her gracefully choreographed movements. The faint, yet distinctive smell of the perfume that she so much adored. But most importantly, the expression of pure joy she'd have just holding her daughter in her arms. A slight smile crossed the young man's lips as he remembered that heart warming smile that seemed to wash away all worries and despair.

As quickly as it had come his smile turned into a frown as tears began to build up in his clear eyes. They were both gone now. He would never see Akiko again. He will never have the chance to hold her in his arms again. Worst of all, he would never hold his child either. A brilliantly vivid image of the small girl flashed in his mind. He felt a large knot form in his throat as a few tears raced down his face. He had looked desperately all over the entire city of Nara and the surrounding villages for the small girl. He had even gone to Osaka to try and find the infant child. He had implored the help of Kuniko (who was most willing to help even if she didn't openly admit it), and yet wasn't able to find a single trace of her. Everything was hopeless.

A young man leaned over the railing alongside the young hitokiri. Kenshin looked up at him rather surprised. The man looked to be somewhere between his mid twenties to early thirties. His short, chestnut colored hair nestled around his angular face in an array of semi disorder. A pair of small semi-rounded glasses settled on the end of his pointed nose. His expression was one of dismay as his eyes slowly wandered aimlessly before him. A pair of swords clearly visible from under the sleeveless, earth colored haori he wore.

Kenshin looked down once again at the water flowing below. He gently whipped the tears from his face with the sleeve of his gii. The swords on the man's waist were enough to identify him as a samurai. A more respectable man then he could ever be. Soon, a nagging feeling that he had meet this man before began to stir within him. Yet, in his unsteady mind he couldn't seem place where they had meet or who he was. After a while, he sighed. There was no point in trying to remember. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered to him anymore. Not life. Not death.

Death.

Kenshin had thought much of this as of lately. He had lost everything, yet he was still alive. He killed many on a daily basis, yet he himself still drew breathe. What was his purpose in life? He had told himself many times that it was to help those who couldn't help themselves. To protect the weak from the unfair and unjust, but most importantly, to give others hope. The hope that he had been denied as a young child. He had told himself these things many times.

Years ago, his master had warned him of the great despair he would bring not only to others, but to himself with his selfish so called justice. Kenshin half smiled to himself cynically. He didn't want to admit it, but the tyrant Hiko had been right yet again. This new justice he was helping create was forcing him to take the lives of many. A filthy deed that he had never imagined when he first set out from his Master's side. Exactly what Master Hiko had predicted would happen.

"What's wrong boy?" the man asked.

Kenshin looked over at the older man surprised. Apparently, he had been watching him for quit some time. He shook his head slowly. "Mine is a filthy life," he began in a low tone.

The man watched the youth for a moment with a stern look on his face. He studied him briefly before pushing his glasses up the length of his nose only to let them slide back down to where they had been previously. His honey brown eyes focused on the two swords on the young man's waist. "I take it, then," he gestured towards the pair of swords on the young man's side, "that you've also taken lives?"

The young hitokiri nodded solemnly.

"So you feel like a wretched, insignificant life yourself?"

Again the young man nodded.

"And I'm guessing that you feel that your death will be the only way to atone for all those lives taken? For all the wrongs you have committed?"

Kenshin nodded once more as his head hung low. An uneasy smile crept across the young hitokiri's face as the two men stood silently for a while.

"I have a very good friend I've known for years," began the older man suddenly, "he's very sick now and still seems to be struggling with himself as well, you know." The man paused to make sure that the red haired youth was paying attention to him. Their eyes meet. He smiled as he continued. "For the last few years he's been in and out of depressive states. Ever since we came to Kyoto, we've told ourselves that we fight for the good of the whole of this nation. He detests having to take a life, yet he is the best of us all." He paused for a moment, as his eyes narrowed. "There was a time a few years back that he felt so wretched and guilty that he came very close to committing seppuku."

Kenshin looked up at the man with a look of interest. "Why didn't he?" he blurted out before he could think.

The older man smiled, not minding the younger one's imprudence. "Because, as he put it, 'it is the coward's way out'." The man paused for a moment looking up at the clear blue sky as he began to recall the incident. "It takes much more strength and courage to continue living with all of one's grief then to die and let it all end in an instant. As long as one is alive, one still has a chance to make amends for the crimes one has committed and ritual disembowelment takes away that chance to truly make amends. But most importantly, death will only bring despair and sadness to those who care about you."

The young hitokiri stood attentively listening. The idea of continuing to live rather then die to amend for one's crimes seemed mind-boggling. How could anyone even want to continue to live after all the horrendous acts of evil one has committed? Who could possibly morn his death?

Akiko would.

His heart skipped a beat. Akiko had worried about his safety from the moment he said that he would leave her to return to Kyoto. She had worried about him with every visit he made. If he died, then her spirit would most certainly be saddened. "What has become of this friend of yours?" he questioned.

The man pushed his glasses back up his nose as he looked out over the river. "As I've said before, he's very sick, but he'd still rather live day to day with all his guilt then to concede to illness or enemies. He's decided to continue living for as long as he can, helping everyone he can in any way possible." The older man looked out over the river with a grin. "I've never seen him turn down a request for assistance, no matter how trivial the matter. He always got yelled at for doing so. That he shouldn't be wasting his time with everyone else's troubles. But he did it anyways. He said he feels a great deal of relief when he's able to be of service to others. Besides, there's always someone who is in need of help and the dead can never be of any help to the living."

Silence fell between the two as the soft sound of the bubbling river below them filled the air. Kenshin continued to think this new philosophy over in his mind. Help others in any way possible, no matter how trivial the affair. Never give in to death. Live.

"Well," began the man after the long pause, "I'd best be off." He straightened his haori as he turned to walk away. Again, he pushed his glasses up his nose as he gave the young man one last glance. "It was nice meeting you," he spoke softly, "and I hope that you find a way to reach peace of mind." Slowly, he began on his way to the main road.

"Wait," Kenshin called out. The man turned slightly in his direction with an inquisitive look on his face. "What's your name?" asked the young hitokiri.

The man smiled warmly. "Shinpachi," he began, "Nagakura Shinpachi. Take care, kid." With a small wave of the hand, the slim man was finally on his way.

Kenshin stood frozen. His heart pounding in his chest with each breath he took. Nagakura Shinpachi. He had been speaking to the captain of the second unit of the Shinsengumi, one of his mortal enemies, without incident. It was no wonder he felt some familiarity towards the man. He knew the man better by name then by face. He had fought him less then a handful of times, all during late night ambushes. The battles had been so fierce and brief that it seemed that both men hadn't really had the chance to memorize one another's face.

His features eased as he continued to watch Shinpachi make his way down the street. Even if that man was his enemy, he had given him something to really consider. If he were to continue living rather then to die, would he really be able to atone for his sins? Could he really bare to live with all his guilt any longer? Akiko would be saddened if he were to lose his life. But, what other purpose would he have to continue living? To aid those who couldn't help themselves, like he had told himself many times before? At the moment, he still yearned to die as his confused mind continued to race with questions.

Sakura.

A sudden wave of anguish filled him. He couldn't die yet. He couldn't possibly consider death yet. He felt like a fool. How could he have even considered dying without finding his daughter first? She too would be saddened, saddened to know that her father gave up on her so easily.

Kenshin looked up one final time. He watched as Nagakura Shinpachi continued on his way down the street, slowly disappearing from sight among the great crowds that swarmed the city of Kyoto. Somehow, he felt his soul to have been refreshed by this quite chat.

----

The three sat quietly for while after Kenshin finished narrating his story. The red haired man's head still hung low in the early autumn night as it had hours ago when he had first began to tell his story. In his lap lay the unwrapped paper package with the tiny lavender kimono made by Akiko for their daughter. He held the old kimono with both hands, slowly rubbing the fabric between his finger tips.

Both Kaoru and Megumi could be heard sobbing, their hands held up to their faces as they listened attentively to each word spoken. Megumi held her handkerchief up to her eyes, drying away her tears before they had a chance to streak down her face. Kaoru on the other hand used the sleeve of her bright yellow kimono to dry off her soaked cheeks.

Sanosuke took in a deep breath as he looked up at the crescent moon. The pouting look on his face made his features look smaller and rounder then his usual narrow self.

"This one was still torn up inside," Kenshin began again in a soft tone. "They were both..." he stopped himself short, "they had both been taken away. After some time, this one finally decided to leave Kyoto and... search for Sakura-chan... At lest, it seemed, that whomever had murdered Akiko had taken mercy on Sakura-chan and taken her away. She was still alive... somewhere... and this one was determined to find her even if it took the rest of one's life." He grew silent for a moment before beginning to fold the small kimono again. "And this one decided to amend for all the evil deeds past committed the best one could," he trailed off as he looked up at the moon.

Sanosuke looked down at his short companion with a sympathetic look in his eyes. It almost seemed like he had bitten down on his tongue to prevent himself from speaking. _Could he still be that torn up about it_, he questioned himself. The memory of the man he had once looked up to flashed in his mind. He himself had felt a great pain for nearly ten years with the loss of Captain Sagara. He exhaled loudly. How could he possibly compare the grief of losing a figure head he had only known for a few years to that of a blood relative? Kenshin was truly strong if he could live day by day with such grief in his heart. Yet another reason to look up to this frail looking man.

---

A/N: Alright then, that finally ends the "past" part of the story. Hope you all liked that... and if you're like my friend, you'll probably end up hating me for writing such "horrible things!" But hey, I like the way it was going and this was what I had in mind for such a long time and I'm glad that after so many years I finally wrote it out. Anywho... the story will still continued and I hope you guys enjoy that part too as well. So, until next time, ENJOY! .


End file.
